www.vheadline.com Posted: Friday, January 31, 2003 - 3:08:12 AM By: Robert Rudnicki

177 gas stations in the Greater Caracas area will receive gasoline supplies early next week as part of contingency plan organized by Petroleos de Venezuela (PDVSA), the Energy & Mines (MEM) Ministry and the National Armed Forces (FAN).

63 stations will receive permanent supplies, 56 others will receive deliveries on Mondays and the remaining 58 on Tuesdays. 

The gas stations in question have been specifically chosen for their locations, with preference being given to those in densely populated areas, near food distribution centers, on major roads, near passenger terminals and near Caracas Metro stations.

• In this way, the government hopes to ensure the delivery of food and medical supplies, as well as improved transportation services.

If this can be achieved, it will be another milestone in the government's battle against the effects of the national work stoppage, with many Venezuelans growing increasingly unhappy with the lack of gasoline available and the incredibly lengthy queues.

www.heraldtribune.com By ALEXANDRA OLSON Associated Press Writer

Diplomats from the United States and five other countries met with President Hugo Chavez and opposition leaders Friday, seeking a deal for early elections and an end to a two-month strike.

With indications the strike was dying down, opponents were hoping international pressure on Chavez to negotiate would help revive their drive for early balloting.

But Foreign Minister Roy Chaderton said the government had no intention of pledging to end Chavez's term early.

"The government has no interest in doing away with itself," Chaderton said Friday.

To demonstrate that discontent with Chavez continues, tens of thousands of opponents protested government investigations into three independent television stations accused of supporting the strike.

Envoys from the United States, Brazil, Chile, Mexico, Portugal and Spain made no comments after meeting with Chavez and strike leaders. Later Friday, they were to attend negotiations sponsored by the Organization of American States.

The diplomatic group is urging both sides to accept one of two proposals made by former Nobel Peace Prize winner Jimmy Carter.

One is to hold a recall referendum on Chavez's rule halfway through his six-year term, or August. Venezuela's constitution allows opponents to petition for such a vote by gathering signatures from 20 percent, or 2.4 million, of the country's 12 million registered voters.

The other - favored by Chavez opponents - calls for ending the strike in exchange for a government pledge to push through quickly a constitutional amendment cutting Chavez's six-year term to four years, clearing the way for early elections.

The government has managed to raise oil production beyond 1 million barrels a day - a third of normal, signaling that Chavez was regaining control of the state oil monopoly, Petroleos de Venezuela S.A., where the walkout is the strongest. Oil provides 70 percent of export revenue and half of government earnings. Before the strike, Venezuela was the world's fifth-largest oil exporter and a major supplier to the United States.

In another sign the strike was weakening, private banks announced they would restore normal working hours next week after two months of opening just three hours a day. Also,factories, schools, shopping malls and franchise restaurants are discussing opening next week, fearing bankruptcy.

The Bush administration has promoted early elections as a solution to the crisis.

Chavez has irritated Washington by cozying up to Cuba and criticizing civilian deaths in the U.S.-led bombing campaign against Afghanistan. Chavez tried unsuccessfully to widen the negotiating group to include governments more friendly to him. The strike, although it is faltering, has plunged Venezuela's already fragile economy into deeper straits. By government estimates, the country has lost $4 billion. Private economists warn the economy could shrink 25 percent in the first three months of the year after contracting an estimated 8 percent last year.

The Central Bank was forced to suspend dollar sales after the bolivar currency plunged 25 percent this year.

Last modified: January 31. 2003 8:19PM

www.bayarea.com Posted on Fri, Jan. 31, 2003 JORGE RUEDA Associated Press

CARACAS, Venezuela - Government foes facing dwindling support for a two-month strike sought international backing Friday in their drive to shorten President Hugo Chavez's term.

High-level envoys, meanwhile, from the United States, Brazil, Chile, Mexico, Portugal and Spain - dubbed the "Group of Friends" - were to meet with Chavez and opposition leaders Friday. The group also planned to attend negotiations sponsored by Cesar Gaviria, secretary-general of the Organization of American States.

The envoys are urging both sides to agree on one of two proposals made by Nobel Peace laureate and former President Jimmy Carter. The first is to amend the constitution to shorten Chavez's term and clear the way for early elections. The second is for both sides to wait for a midterm referendum on Chavez's rule.

The diplomatic push for a settlement came as shopping malls, banks, franchises and schools prepared to reopen next week. Production also was creeping upward in the oil industry, where the 61-day walkout has been the most damaging.

The opposition called the strike on Dec. 2 to demand a nonbinding referendum on Chavez's rule in February. It later upped the ante to demand Chavez's ouster.

But the Supreme Court, citing a technicality, indefinitely postponed the referendum. Chavez shows no signs of leaving.

Opponents were planning an afternoon march on the Melia hotel - where the foreign diplomats are staying - to protest government investigations against three private television stations accused of supporting efforts to overthrow Chavez. The investigations could culminate in the shutdown of the stations.

The opposition has proposed a constitutional amendment that would cut Chavez's term from six years to four and clear the way for presidential and congressional elections this year. The opposition plan also calls for a new elections council and a Supreme Court ruling to determine when a referendum on Chavez's rule can be held.

Under the proposal, Chavez and pro-government lawmakers could run for re-election. He has been president since 1999 and his term ends in 2007.

The government said it was studying the opposition's proposal but won't allow it to shorten Chavez's term.

Strike leader Manuel Cova of the Venezuelan Workers Confederation said Thursday a new presidential election could be held as early as March and should be done this year.

"To do this we need the guarantees of the international community," Cova said. "If we don't do it this year, we'll be in prison, or in exile, there won't be press freedom."

Opposition groups are organizing a nationwide campaign on Feb. 2 to collect nearly 2 million signatures needed from Venezuela's 12 million voters for the amendment proposal.

Both sides recognize international mediation "is essential to open the path for negotiation," said Gaviria, who has tried to broker an end to the political tug-of-war since November.

Chavez has welcomed the "Group of Friends" initiative, but he has warned others not to meddle in Venezuela's domestic affairs. He also has vowed not to strike a deal with an opposition he refers to as a "coup-plotting oligarchy." Chavez was briefly ousted in a failed April coup.

The standoff has devastated Venezuela's oil-dependent economy, though the government has revived production to about 1 million barrels a day. Output fell to about 200,000 barrels a day in December from the norm of more than 3 million.

Analysts predict the economy will shrink 25 percent this year after an 8 percent contraction last year. Unemployment has reached 17 percent and is expected to rise.

The government has slashed its 2003 budget by 10 percent from $25 billion and announced it will cut the state-owned oil monopoly's budget from US$8 billion to $2.7 billion.

Oil accounts for half of government income and 30 percent of Venezuela's $100 billion gross domestic product.

www.latimes.com By T. Christian Miller, Times Staff Writer

CARACAS, Venezuela -- As this nation's seemingly implacable strike grinds through its ninth week, the Supreme Court has emerged as a third axis of power in the dispute that pits President Hugo Chavez against a determined opposition.

Until last fall, the court, like the National Assembly, was assumed to be under Chavez's control because a former ally handpicked most of the court's 20 judges for their 12-year terms.        But in the last few months, as Chavez and his critics have clashed over legal matters, the court has become increasingly unpredictable, issuing some rulings for the president and others for the opposition.

"The picture has changed," said Luis Miquilena, an enigmatic and aging powerbroker believed to have the most influence over the court through a web of political contacts. "The people in the court have realized that we can't have a court that is allied with the president. That would be perverse."

Venezuela's power poles have long been clear: Chavez, a former coup leader, in control of every branch of government, versus his opponents, a patchwork coalition that includes powerful business and union leaders, housewives, dissident military officers and rival politicians.

The opposition accuses Chavez of driving the country into social and financial chaos. They have waged the strike since Dec. 2 to force him from power. The protest has crippled petroleum production and made life miserable for millions of Venezuelans. Gas lines are long and milk and flour scarce.

The first sign that the court was no longer under Chavez's control came in August, when justices issued an 11-8 ruling, with one abstention, that absolved four military officers who participated in a coup against the president in April. Chavez was returned to power 48 hours later by loyal military officers and other supporters.

The stunning decision, which found that the four officers had not participated in an active "military rebellion" because at the time Chavez reportedly had resigned, continues to be a source of deep anger for the president and his supporters.

In the months that followed, however, the court made it clear that the ruling against Chavez was not exactly a change of heart. The court issued a temporary injunction ordering all striking oil workers back to their jobs. The employees ignored the order and are awaiting a final ruling.

But the judges also issued an order forcing Chavez to return control of the Caracas Police Department to a political enemy. The regime took over the force after complaining that police were being used to crush demonstrations by the president's supporters.

Last week, the court suspended a referendum on Chavez's rule scheduled for Feb. 2. The opposition had made the measure the focus of all its recent efforts to oust Chavez. They had collected 2 million signatures, delivered them to election authorities under a hail of rocks and bullets, and battled a series of legal challenges to be able to hold the nonbinding vote.

"I don't know what's going on with the court these days," said Anibal Romero, a political analyst aligned with the opposition.

The court's independence -- or perhaps its willful balancing act between the two sides -- will become more important as the strike continues because nearly any solution to the crisis could wind up before the justices.

Several key opposition figures have proposed a constitutional amendment that would cut Chavez's term short and set immediate elections. But the president has vowed to challenge that effort in court -- and if the fight over the nonbinding referendum is any indication, such a maneuver could wrap up the proposed amendment bid for months, if not years.

A second proposal, favored by Chavez, is to hold a recall election in August. The constitution permits such an election halfway through the president's term. Even in that scenario, the court plays a role.

Previously, the court ruled that the halfway point of Chavez's term would be in January 2004, three years after he was last sworn in. But after that ruling, Chavez made a casual announcement on his weekly radio and television show that the halfway point was really August 2003 -- three years after he was elected in July 2000 to a six-year term.

As a result, opponents fear that the date could become the source of another protracted court dispute. The date is now set to become part of the negotiations.

Former President Carter, acting as a conciliator in the crisis, has suggested that the court issue a second ruling backing the August date before any accord is signed.

All that has led both sides to develop a deep distrust of the court and its motives -- further imperiling the separation of powers in a country that has long had weak public institutions.

"Its decisions are questionable because they are based on political motives," said Juan Barretto, a lawmaker with Chavez's party, the Fifth Republic Movement. "The legitimacy of the institution is in doubt."

Two justices contacted by The Times declined to be interviewed.

The court has a less than stellar reputation. Since the beginning of the modern Venezuelan democracy in 1958, its justices have been handpicked by the two political parties that long dominated the country's electoral landscape.

When Chavez took office, he vowed to change that practice. Instead, in the confusing time surrounding Chavez's 1999 moves to install a new constitution, Miquilena named each of the new judges. Most of them were later confirmed by the National Assembly.

Miquilena, who broke with Chavez a year ago, insisted in an interview that he no longer has any hold over the judges. But several lawyers and former judicial officials who follow the court said he has great influence on at least eight of the 20 judges, either through old political alliances or leverage

A Miquilena ally, Justice Franklin Arrieche, who wrote the decision absolving the four generals, is in the running to be president of the court, though sources believe the position will go to a Chavez ally, Omar Mora.

Still, others argue that while Miquilena controls a number of justices, he doesn't control the right ones. The court is made up of six judicial chambers, handling everything from family law to elections to constitutional issues. All 20 judges meet in session only in rare cases, such as trials involving military and political representatives.

In practice, the constitutional chamber, made up of five judges, winds up hearing the most important cases. Chavez still has heavy influence over three of those justices, sources said. Ivan Rincon, current president of the full court, is a Chavez ally, as are Jesus Eduardo Cabrera and Jose Delgado.

"The government has control of the constitutional chamber," said Gustavo Linares, a constitutional lawyer with one of Caracas' most elite legal firms. "That's the most important."

Finally, some observers believe that the court is simply playing a political game. With the future of the country in doubt, justices may be issuing rulings to please both sides as a way of ingratiating themselves with whomever eventually wins.

"They are watching out for their own reputations. It's a perversion of justice," said Asdrubal Aguiar, the country's former interior minister and a current opposition member.

Whatever the truth behind the court's actions, Chavez supporters and opponents agree that, barring a negotiated solution, the court will play a key role in ending the conflict.

But if the court continues to be seen as a political tool that bounces between loyalties, its decisions will be in doubt. Either side might ignore a ruling -- and that would only prolong the country's agony.

"When you have a tree with bad roots, the more it grows the more afraid you are," said Javier Elechiguerra, a former Chavez ally who served as his attorney general.

If you want other stories on this topic, search the Archives at latimes.com/archives.

www.nytimes.com By JUAN FORERO

CARACAS, Venezuela, Jan. 30 — With a punishing antigovernment strike two months old, representatives from the United States and five other countries arrived here today to help President Hugo Chávez's government and its foes come up with a plan that would end the walkout and lead to presidential elections, thereby easing Venezuela's political turmoil. Advertisement

Both sides have said they are ready to discuss two proposals, made last week by former President Jimmy Carter, that would lead to elections this year.

But serious obstacles remain, and government officials — feeling they are besting their opponents as the strike has begun to lose public support — have been defiant in their public comments.

That has raised concerns that an accord remains distant, even though representatives of the six countries — the so-called Group of Friends — have convened to help bolster talks. In addition to the United States, the countries are Brazil, Mexico, Chile, Spain and Portugal.

"I cannot work with terrorists and coup mongers," Mr. Chávez, a former army paratrooper who has vowed to overturn the old social order, said Wednesday. The flagging support for the strike has made the search for a solution more urgent for the opposition, which has been using the walkout to press the government at the negotiating table. The opposition favors a constitutional amendment to cut Mr. Chávez's term and bring about new elections. Government foes are also open to discussing a recall referendum on the president's rule that could take place in August, a proposal the government has long supported as legal.