usinfo.state.gov Washington File 14 January 2003 State Department Briefing Transcript

................ QUESTION: Can we jump to Venezuela?

MR. BOUCHER: Sure.

QUESTION: Okay, thank you. There was a meeting yesterday and today between some opposition leaders and some members of the State Department. I just want to know, there was any agreement on the issues concerning the role of Brazil, the end of the strike, or the electoral solution? And can we expect any announcement in Ecuador concerning the club of "Friends of Gaviria" and the way out to the Venezuelan crisis?

MR. BOUCHER: Okay, that's about five questions. I'll try to remember most of them. First of all, there was a meeting. Our Deputy Assistant Secretary in Western Hemisphere Affairs Tom Shannon met with the Confederation of Venezuelan Workers' President Carlos Ortega and the opposition dialogue participant Timoteo Zambrano.

At that -- in that meeting, we reviewed the current state of the dialogue, made clear our point of view, which is to emphasize the efforts of the OAS Secretary General, made clear we were looking for his efforts to result in a peaceful, constitutional, democratic and electoral resolution of the issues and we urged them to remain engaged in the dialogue.

We're not here to substitute ourselves for anyone in the negotiation. The results that you're imagining or hoping for need to be achieved through the parties. And we've urged both parties, both in our contacts with the government, but also in our contacts with the opposition, to cooperate, to work in that process to achieve a peaceful result that benefits the people of Venezuela.

In terms of what may be discussed, may be announced in Quito, no particular prediction right now, but we are working with Brazil, we're working with other hemispheric partners to establish a "Friends of the Secretary General" group that can support the organization's mission to try to achieve resolution of the crisis. That's something we have worked on .

The Secretary has discussed that with various people in his conversations and we'll continue to work on it to try to make sure that the international community, and particularly the people in this hemisphere, are doing everything they can to support the efforts of the OAS Secretary General.

QUESTION: This is now the name of it? It's going to be called, "The Friends of the Secretary General," not "The Friends of Venezuela?" Doesn't the Secretary General have his own friends that he doesn't really need to have a new group of them?

MR. BOUCHER: Well, this is --

QUESTION: Is that -- I mean, is this --

MR. BOUCHER: No, I wouldn't settle any name in stone until it's --

QUESTION: All right. And you're saying you have no --

MR. BOUCHER: -- until it's announced.

QUESTION: And you have no position on opposition to Brazil being a member of the group? Is that what you're saying?

MR. BOUCHER: I think we've pointed out before that Brazil has been one of the participants in this discussion. Certainly the Secretary has discussed this idea with the Brazilian foreign minister when he talked to him a week or so ago, and this -- the earlier idea that did come out of meetings in Brazil was not one we supported because it wasn't directed at supporting the Secretary General, and this one is.

QUESTION: But you think that the inclusion of Brazil would be a good idea?

MR. BOUCHER: We would expect that anybody who would participate in a group designed to support the Secretary General would be there to support the Secretary General. So --

QUESTION: Yeah. That didn't answer the question. You, you think that Brazil should be a member of --

MR. BOUCHER: I'm not naming any particular country. I'm just saying who we're working with. I'm trying to avoid endorsing any particular country for the group.

QUESTION: And one more thing on this. These two opposition guys were also -- they either have or are about to meet with Kofi Annan at the UN. President Chavez is going to be up there this week meeting with Secretary General Annan. Are there any plans for any US officials to see President Chavez?

MR. BOUCHER: No. He's -- it's a multilateral meeting in New York to transfer the Presidency of the G77 from Venezuela to Morocco, and we have no bilateral activities scheduled.

QUESTION: Right. Okay. None at all?

MR. BOUCHER: Nor have we had any requests.

Okay.

Sir.

QUESTION: Going back to Venezuela for a second, what were the conclusions of the meeting between Mr. Shannon and representatives?

MR. BOUCHER: I don't -- as I described the meeting, I described the things that were discussed. I don't think that this kind of meeting is designed to have a particular conclusion. It's a chance for us to hear from them on the state of affairs, on their views of the situation and a chance for us to encourage them to participate fully in the discussions with the Secretary General and try to achieve a resolution.

QUESTION: And what was their main input?

MR. BOUCHER: What was their main input? They're telling us what's going on down there in their view.

QUESTION: Thank you.

MR. BOUCHER: Okay. Thank you.

(end transcript)

(Distributed by the Office of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: usinfo.state.gov)

asia.reuters.com Tue January 14, 2003 06:48 PM ET By Pascal Fletcher

CARACAS, Venezuela (Reuters) - One person was shot and injured in clashes between rival Venezuelan protesters and police on Tuesday as President Hugo Chavez's government denied a six-week-old opposition strike was causing chaos.

In scattered skirmishes in west Caracas, police fired tear gas and shotgun pellets to drive back groups of pro-Chavez militants hurling rocks and bottles who moved to attack a march by opponents of the left-wing president.

The Chavez supporters, some of them masked, stoned reporters, smashed the facade of a closed McDonald's restaurant, and threw a Molotov cocktail at a van belonging to a local TV channel, witnesses said.

It was the third consecutive day of street clashes in Venezuela, the world's No. 5 oil exporter, where the grueling opposition strike has slashed petroleum output and shipments and pushed the oil-reliant economy further into recession.

Rejecting opposition calls for early elections, Vice President Jose Vicente Rangel said the government would beat the strike and aimed to rule until its term ended in 2007. "We have no interest in Chavez leaving office," Rangel said.

"It's a 'fiction' strike, carried out by people who are obsessed with the idea that by staging a strike, they can get rid of Chavez."

Rangel denied that the strike, which has also closed many private businesses and caused shortages of gasoline and some food items, had created chaos. "The country is working," the vice president said.

His comments to foreign correspondents confirmed there was currently no end in sight to Venezuela's economic and political crisis, which has rocked world oil markets and stirred efforts by the international community to try to mediate a solution.

In Tuesday's confused, running battles, one man was injured in the leg by a bullet, but it was not clear who had opened fire, Caracas fire chief Rodolfo Briceno told Reuters.

Fighting to keep the two feuding sides apart, police also used tear gas against some of the opposition protesters.

The country's bolivar currency fell 3.2 percent against the U.S. dollar on Tuesday to 1,612.50 bolivars. It has lost about 13 percent of its value this year.

Rangel condemned the oil industry disruption, which has cost the country $4 billion in lost revenue, as "sabotage" and "terrorism." The government has fired 2,000 striking state oil employees and is struggling to restore the industry to normal.

Rangel said the government objected to opposition plans to hold a nonbinding referendum on Chavez's rule on Feb. 2. Dismissing the proposed February poll as "unconstitutional and politically useless," he said the constitution only allowed for a binding referendum on the president's mandate after Aug. 19.

DEADLOCK OVER ELECTIONS

"In conditions of violence, it is very difficult for a country to hold elections," Rangel said. At least five people have been killed in street clashes since the strike began.

The government has appealed to the Supreme Court against the planned Feb. 2 referendum, but Rangel said it would respect whatever decision the court took. Chavez has said he will not resign even if he massively loses the February poll.

Chavez's foes say he is trying to install a Cuban-style communist system. The opposition includes business and union leaders, striking oil executives and rebel military officers.

"We are maintaining the civic strike," anti-Chavez union leader Manuel Cova told reporters.

In a bid to break the deadlock, the United States and other countries are moving to set up a "friendly nations" group to back efforts by the Organization of American States to broker an agreement on elections. Mexico and Argentina said on Tuesday they were willing to form part of such a group.

Chavez was due to discuss his country's crisis in New York on Thursday with U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan after attending the inauguration in Quito on Wednesday of Ecuador's new president, Lucio Gutierrez.

"I will be seeing President Hugo Chavez here on Thursday ... and I hope to be able to discuss with him the developments in Venezuela, and how one can intensify the mediation efforts, to calm the situation and return it to normalcy," Annan told a news conference in New York on Tuesday.

The Venezuela crisis has helped push oil prices to two-year highs of over $30 a barrel as the market frets over supplies at a time when Washington is preparing a possible war in Iraq.

Before the strike, the United States had been receiving more than 13 percent of its oil imports from Venezuela.

Chavez, a former paratrooper elected in 1998, six years after leading a coup attempt, himself survived a coup in April. He accuses his foes of trying to destroy his self-styled "revolution" aimed at helping the poor. Most Venezuelans live in poverty despite the nation's oil wealth.

(Additional reporting by Patrick Markey)

europe.cnn.com Tuesday, January 14, 2003 Posted: 2238 GMT

CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) -- The ongoing oil strike may have taken a deadly toll in rural Venezuela.

Seven people died and four suffered third degree burns Tuesday, when improperly stored gasoline exploded at a residence in the rural town of Tucani, located approximately 500 kilometers (300 miles) west of Caracas.

Fuel shortages caused by a six-week-old general strike have prompted many Venezuelans to stockpile gasoline using containers unfit for such purposes. Warnings by state authorities against inappropriate storage and transportation of gasoline have been largely ignored by the population.

"Three containers with gasoline exploded, but we still don't know what caused the explosion," said Oli Chacon, a spokeswoman for the Merida state firefighters, told The Associated Press in a telephone interview.

Opposition groups, including the country's leading trade union and business chamber, called the work stoppage on December 2nd, to force President Hugo Chavez from office.

Chavez, a former paratroop commander who was elected in 1999 and re-elected two years later, has downplayed calls for his resignation and fresh elections.

Food and fuel shortages caused by the strike have caused disturbances, many occurring in regions with insufficient fuel supplies.

On Monday night, dozens looking for propane cooking gas looted three businesses in the coastal town of Guiria, located 475 kilometers (285 miles) east of the capital.

Speaking on the condition of anonymity, an officer at the local National Guard garrison said three looters were injured when troops moved to restore order. Troops used tear gas to disperse looters.

Armed looters fired at electric transformers, the officer added, interrupting electricity in the town for five hours. Three were injured. No arrests were made.

www.upi.com By Carmen Gentile UPI Latin America Correspondent From the International Desk Published 1/14/2003 5:01 PM

SAO PAULO, Brazil, Jan. 14 (UPI) -- South American leaders readied themselves Tuesday for upcoming meetings in Ecuador that will focus on efforts at ending the weeks-long general strike that has crippled neighboring Venezuela.

Many of the continent's presidents will be on hand in Quito for the inauguration of Ecuador's new president, former Col. Lucio Gutierrez.

While Gutierrez's ceremonial ascension will dominate the local media, international eyes will likely focus on leaders' discussion whether to officially form a regional, multi-national "Friends of Venezuela Group" (Grupo de Paises Amigos da Venezuela) to help bring a peaceful end to the strike, daily protests and clashes between supporters and detractors of President Hugo Chavez.

The proposed coalition is the brainchild of new Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, a leftist with strong ties to Chavez. Opponents of the Venezuelan president allege he has taken the nation too far to the left at the expense of the economy.

Other prominent leaders expected to attend are Colombia's Alvaro Uribe and Argentina's Eduardo Duhalde.

The Lula-led meeting of regional leaders has, however, drawn the ire of Washington, which had hoped to form its own "Friends of Venezuela" group to end the more than 40-day strike that has severely handicapped Venezuela's oil production capabilities.

A Washington Post article last week noted the Bush administration was hoping to head off the left-leaning Lula government's initiative, adding U.S. and foreign diplomatic sources were concerned that the effort would ultimately be counterproductive.

The U.S.-led effort would include Brazil, as well as the United States, Mexico, Chile and possibly Spain, and a representative of U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan, the Post said.

U.S. State Department spokesman Richard Boucher recently explained the Bush administration's position on regional intervention in Venezuela.

"We don't think there needs to be some separate group of friends formed," he said.

Lula, as he is known, has maintained a non-adversarial, diplomatic position on the U.S. stance while moving ahead with the proposed meeting. His presidential spokesman, Andre Singer, said Tuesday the Friends of Venezuela Group "would be to support the negotiation effort by Organization of American States Secretary General Cesar Gaviria, to resolve the crisis in that country."

Gaviria had been mediating talks between the government and opposition leaders in recent weeks with little success. The effort is currently at a standstill due to a disagreement regarding the possible ouster of Chavez.

Singer also said Brazil's new Foreign Relations Minister Celso Amorim had spoken to Secretary of State Colin Powell about the upcoming meeting, though didn't expand on the specifics of the leaders' discussion.

"There is a convergence of opinion concerning the need to overcome the crisis in Venezuela," he said, but did not elaborate.

The Bush administration initially appeared apprehensive about interfering in the Venezuela crisis. Last spring, Washington came out in support of Chavez's ouster, only to have the Venezuelan president return to power a few days later.

But now it appears Bush is becoming increasingly interested in ending a strike that has denied the United States the more than 1 million barrels of oil a day it was receiving from Venezuela.

Despite the U.S. desire to play a role in ending the strike, Venezuela doesn't appear close to reaching a solution any time soon.

Chavez has been adamant about not bowing to opposition calls for him to step down and on Tuesday ordered soldiers to seize weapons from the Caracas police force, alleging they were siding with his detractors.

www.alertnet.org 15 Jan 2003 01:23

(Updates with Chavez comments)

By Pascal Fletcher

CARACAS, Venezuela, Jan 14 (Reuters) - One person was shot and wounded in clashes between rival Venezuelan protesters and police on Tuesday as President Hugo Chavez condemned leaders of a six-week-old opposition strike as "terrorists" and said he would not negotiate with them.

Chavez's comments indicated an apparent hardening of his government's position on the 44th day of the strike -- called to press the leftist leader to quit and hold early elections -- that has crippled oil output in the world's No 5 exporter.

The president spoke after scattered skirmishes in west Caracas, in which police fired tear gas and shotgun pellets to repel groups of pro-Chavez militants hurling rocks and bottles who moved to attack a march by anti-government protesters.

Chavez said the opposition could not be seen as having the same legitimacy as his government.

"We know it's not like that ... What we have here is a constitutional government facing subversion," he said at a ceremony to receive new leaders of the National Assembly.

He condemned his opponents as "elite and privileged sectors" which he said were bent on overthrowing him. "You can't negotiate with terrorists,' he said.

He was due to fly later to Quito to attend the inauguration Wednesday of Ecuador's new president, Lucio Gutierrez.

In Tuesday's clashes -- the third consecutive day of street violence -- Chavez supporters, some of them masked, stoned reporters, smashed the facade of a McDonald's restaurant and threw a Molotov cocktail at a TV news van, witnesses said.

One man was hit in the leg by a bullet but it was not clear who had fired it, city fire chief Rodolfo Briceno said.

Fighting to keep the two sides apart, police also used tear gas against some of the opposition protesters.

"FICTIONAL STRIKE"

Earlier, Vice President Jose Vicente Rangel told foreign correspondents the government aimed to rule until its term ended in 2007. "It's a 'fiction' strike, carried out by people who are obsessed with the idea that by staging a strike, they can get rid of Chavez," Rangel said.

He denied that the shutdown, which has closed many private businesses and caused shortages of gasoline and some food items, had created chaos. "The country is working," he said.

The country's bolivar currency <VEB=> fell 3.2 percent against the U.S. dollar on Tuesday to 1,612.50 bolivars. It has lost about 13 percent of its value this year.

Rangel condemned the oil industry disruption, which has cost the country $4 billion in lost revenue, as "sabotage" and "terrorism." The government has fired 2,000 striking state oil employees and is struggling to restore the industry to normal.

Rangel said the government objected to opposition plans to hold a nonbinding referendum on Feb. 2. Dismissing the poll as "unconstitutional and politically useless", he said the constitution only allowed for a binding referendum on the president's mandate after Aug. 19.

The government has appealed to the Supreme Court against the planned referendum, but Rangel said it would respect whatever decision the court took. Chavez has said he will not resign even if he massively loses the February poll.

Chavez's foes say he is trying to install a Cuban-style communist system. The opposition includes business and union leaders, striking oil executives and rebel military officers.

In a bid to break the deadlock, the United States and other countries are moving to set up a "friendly nations" group to back efforts by the Organization of American States to broker an agreement on elections. Mexico and Argentina said on Tuesday they were willing to form part of such a group.

The Venezuela crisis has helped push oil prices to two-year highs of over $30 a barrel as the market frets over supplies at a time when Washington is preparing a possible war in Iraq.

Before the strike, the United States had been receiving more than 13 percent of its oil imports from Venezuela.

(Additional reporting by Patrick Markey)