Sat May 24, 2003 03:54 PM ET By Pascal Fletcher

CARACAS, Venezuela (<a href=asia.reuters.com>Reuters) - One person was killed and 22 wounded by gunfire that broke out during a rally held by foes of leftist Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez in a pro-Chavez district of Caracas on Saturday, officials said.

Three of the wounded were National Guard soldiers whose patrol came under fire in west Caracas as they took up positions in a security operation to try to prevent violence at the opposition protest.

"There are 22 people wounded by bullets and one killed," Caracas Fire Services Chief Rodolfo Briceno told Reuters.

Government and opposition representatives blamed each other for the shootings.

Gunfire erupted as several hundred supporters of the opposition Democratic Action Party held a rally in a narrow street in Catia, a poor, crime-ridden neighborhood that is a bastion of support for populist Chavez.

"In the middle of the event, there were several volleys of bullets, but the rally went on," Democratic Action leader Henry Ramos told reporters.

"We're not afraid. ... This country doesn't just belong to Chavez supporters, but to all Venezuelans," demonstrator Ana Maria Colmenares told Reuters.

Chavez's opponents accuse him of ruling like a dictator and of trying to install Cuban-style communism in the world's No. 5 oil exporter.

Witnesses said some of the shots appeared to come from side streets where groups of Chavez supporters had gathered to shout insults at the opposition protesters.

The violence broke out a day after government and opposition negotiators announced they had agreed to a political pact to hold a referendum on Chavez's rule after Aug. 19.

The agreement aims to end months of often violent conflict in Venezuela over Chavez's presidency. He was elected in late 1998 and survived a brief coup last year.

STORM OF ACCUSATIONS

Vice President Jose Vicente Rangel accused leaders of the opposition rally of deliberately provoking the violence. "This was a provocation, seeking deaths and injuries," he said.

Ramos denied this. "The death and the injuries are the responsibility of the government," he said.

In scenes of confusion and tension in Catia, the demonstrators, including some women and children, ran in panic as volleys of shots rang out. A Reuters correspondent at the scene saw one man, a motorcyclist, lying bleeding from a bullet wound in his neck.

Authorities had deployed 2,000 police and troops around the small rally in west Caracas, an area of sprawling hilltop slum neighborhoods which is dominated by Chavez supporters.

In the maze of narrow streets and jumbled houses, often crowded with people, it was difficult for police to determine where shots were coming from.

National Guard Caracas region commander Gen. Marcos Rojas told reporters that gunmen blocked a street with buses and ambushed three of his men, a sergeant and two soldiers, shooting all three. He said the attackers were members of the radical opposition party Red Flag.

It was not clear whether the violence might affect the formal signing of the referendum pact between the government and opposition, which is scheduled to take place next week in Caracas in the presence of Organization of American States Secretary General Cesar Gaviria.

At least 50 people have been killed, almost all by gunfire, in clashes between followers and foes of Chavez over the last 18 months. Several hundred more have been wounded.

Chavez, who has said he is willing to submit to the recall referendum allowed under the constitution, was attending a summit of Latin American presidents in Peru.

<a href=www.vheadline.com>Venezuela's Electronic News Posted: Tuesday, May 13, 2003 By: Patrick J. O'Donoghue
  The Attorney General's Office has formally charged Rosinaldo Gualberto Coelho for illegally carrying a military firearm and intimidating the general public  on January 3, 2003 in Los Proceres (Caracas).  

Two government supporters were shot and killed during a rally in support of the government. 

Brazilian citizen, Coelho has been under preventive arrest since March this year and its is only now that formal charges have been lodged at 38th Control Court under Judge Mariela Armas. Prosecutors says they have videos showing the suspect's involvement. 

Police Detective Branch (CICPC) agents allegedly caught Coelho red-handed shooting against people participating in the government's "Mega-march."

<a href=www.vheadline.com>Posted: Tuesday, May 06, 2003 By: Patrick J. O'Donoghue

President Hugo Chavez Frias has appointed Captain (ret.) Eliecer Otaiza as president of the National Job Training Institute (Ince).  

Otaiza is a controversial figure with a short but checkered career ... wounded during the November 27, 1992, uprising, Otaiza went on to become a key member of the Bolivarian Revolutionary Movement (MBR-200) and was elected to the Constituent Assembly. 

President Chavez Frias then appointed him as State Political & Security (DISIP) Police director where he served for one year before being dismissed by the President himself.  Since then, Otaiza has acted a top Movimiento Quinta Republica (MVR) figure and allegedly overseeing security and defense issues.

Marlene Yadira Cordova has been appointed Science & Technology Minister.  Although little is known about her, the new Minister says she is in favor of generating knowledge to boost sustainable and integral local development on all levels, national, state and municipal.

Her first step will be to introduce a program called "The Innovative Municipality." Among other plans are, as she points out, to develop "state-of-the-art universal knowledge to improve standard of living" and to continue strengthening national research centers and innovative technologies.

<a href=www.vheadline.com>Venezuela's Electronic News Posted: Tuesday, May 06, 2003 By: Patrick J. O'Donoghue

Libertador (Caracas) Mayor Freddy Bernal has received a good telling off. During his Sunday radio address, President Hugo Chavez Frias has complained about the municipality's dirty streets. 

The President told Movimiento Quinta Republica (MVR) mayor, Bernal to get his act together and raised a relevant question about the efficiency of municipal  garbage companies. 

To be fair to Bernal, the President also mentioned the state of the Caracas metropolitan area in general, for which Mayor Alfredo Pena holds some responsibility ... "Caracas is a very dirty city ... at times it makes me sick ... I'm not the Mayor but if I were, I would spend nights making a round of the streets." 

It seems that the situation is so bad that the President says he is tempted to get personally involved in solving the problem since it hits him in the eye whenever he drives through Caracas at night which, he comments, he does frequently ... the President has also called on local community associations to collaborate in garbage collection programs and has proposed setting up cooperatives to help deal with the problem.

<a href=www.vheadline.com>Venezuela's Electronic News Posted: Monday, May 05, 2003 By: Patrick J. O'Donoghue

There seems to be no light in the tunnel for the conformation of the new National Electoral College (CNE) yet, as analysts suggest difficulties in both government and opposition camps. 

Chief of the many obstacles in the path of the new CNE is that there a too few posts for so many aspirants. Both government and opposition are reported to be mulling through lists of would-be board members ... "everyone wants the top job." 

Movimiento Quinta Republica (MVR) has not resolved an internal debate about supporting the aspirations of current CNE board member, Romulo Rangel. 

Some MVR members suggest that it would be wrong to give a cold shoulder to the only CNE board member (Rangel),  who opposed the consultative referendum at the height of the opposition national stoppage offensive. 

In the end, it all may boil down to an agreement between the government and Accion Democratica (AD) and Movimiento al Socialismo (MAS). 

The problem, according to one MVR source, is that both opposition parties are stalling on the issue and weighing possible political fallout.  Accion Democratica (AD) is basking in glory as the most popular opposition political party.  The key factor in the negotiations will be to find and agree by consensus on someone acceptable to both sides for the fifth board  post. 

The National Assembly (AN), meantime,  has accepted to set up an ad hoc committee to try and untangle the threads of discord and appoint the CNE board as soon as possible. 

The new initiative will consist of a committee integrating 11 deputies from the original appointments committee, and parliamentary leaders of groups not represented on the committee, such as Primero Justicia (PJ), Causa R, Solidaridad and Tranparencia Revolucionaria.