VENEZUELA: AN AGREEMENT HAS BEEN REACHED BETWEEN THE GOVERNMENT OF EMBATTLED VENEZUELAN PRESIDENT HUGO CHAVEZ AND HIS OPPONENTS TO START PEACE TALKS

Record ID: 640696

  • Title: VENEZUELA: AN AGREEMENT HAS BEEN REACHED BETWEEN THE GOVERNMENT OF EMBATTLED VENEZUELAN PRESIDENT HUGO CHAVEZ AND HIS OPPONENTS TO START PEACE TALKS
  • Date: 7th November 2002
  • Summary: (W1) CARACAS, VENEZUELA (NOVEMBER 07, 2002) (REUTERS) SV OF THE SECRETARY GENERAL OF THE ORGANIZATION OF AMERICAN STATES, CESAR GAVIRIA, ARRIVING FOR NEWS CONFERENCE MCU MEDIA MCU (Spanish) GAVIRIA SAYING: "Everyone knows that if there is no agreement and the negotiating sessions fail to produce results the country will move to a higher level of confrontation. But I think we must approach it with a degree of optimism, that this table will be able to bring about results and that it shouldn't, in any way, take us to a higher level of confrontation which is what we have had so far." CU MEDIA MCU (Spanish) GAVIRIA SAYING: "The electoral results that this country needs is the best, the type that does not have any institutional risks and one that coincides the government with the (opposition coalition, Democratic) Coordinator. That is what I think and what we are going to try to achieve in the talks." SV MEDIA
  • Embargoed: 22nd November 2002 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: CARACAS, VENEZUELA
  • Country: Venezuela
  • Topics: General,Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVA7LF7E0G62HRSZNY1ZV8SUZBA0
  • Story Text: An agreement has been reached between the government of embattled Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez and his opponents to start peace talks in hopes of resolving the nation's on going political crisis.
    Venezuela's populist President Hugo Chavez and his opponents, locked in a fierce conflict over his leftist rule, agreed on Thursday (November 07) to talks aimed at negotiating an electoral solution to the nation's long-running political crisis.
    But disagreements over the timetable for a vote and opposition threats to call a strike still clouded the fledgling peace talks planned for Friday in the world's fifth largest oil exporter.
    Organization of American States Secretary General Cesar Gaviria, who brokered the talks, cautioned the government and opposition about the price of failing to break the stalemate.
    "Everyone knows that if there is no agreement and the negotiating sessions fail to produce results the country will move to a higher level of confrontation," Gaviria said at a press conference. "But I think we must approach it with a degree of optimism."
    Gaviria has struggled to bring the two sides to the negotiating table since April, when rebel military officers briefly ousted Chavez. Since then jitters over fresh rebellion, growing social tensions and a sharp economic downturn have exacerbated the nation's divisions.
    Chavez, a blunt-speaking ex-paratrooper elected in 1998, faces a determined opposition, who portray him as a dictator and blame him for ruining the oil-rich economy. But he claims his policies, such as land reform, help redistribute wealth in a nation where many live in poverty.
    Opposition leaders, including political parties, union and business bosses and rebel officers, have demanded an immediate referendum on his rule. They handed in Monday more than two million signatures to petition the poll before January. More than a dozen people were injured when Chavez supporters attacked an opposition march to deliver the petition.
    The National Electoral Council, the autonomous body which oversees elections and referendums, has until Dec. 4 to decide whether to authorize the poll. The vote would be non-binding, but his foes hope it will still press Chavez to resign.
    But the combative president, who led a botched coup himself six years before winning at the ballot box, refuses to step down. He insists the constitution does not permit a vote on his mandate before August 2003.
    That disagreement has threatened to overshadow the OAS initiative after squabbling broke out over the referendum. The opposition has accused Chavez of attempting to sabotage an early poll and on Thursday repeated threats to call a national strike if the talks fail to produce results before Dec. 4.
    Chavez, whose fiery speeches are often filled with accusations of plots to topple him, welcomed the deal to negotiate with his political enemies.
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