Chávez Rejects Call for Early Vote in Venezuela

December 15, 2002
By JUAN FORERO


CARACAS, Venezuela, Dec. 14 - President Hugo Chávez's
government, whipsawed by a 13-day strike that is
debilitating the economy, has rejected a Bush
administration call for early elections to resolve the
political turmoil in this oil-rich nation.

Government officials said today that an early election, as
demanded by the opposition, would be in violation of the
country's Constitution, which permits a binding referendum
on the president's rule no earlier than August.

"I'm sure President Bush is not telling the world that
Venezuelans must violate the Constitution," Mr. Chávez told
four American reporters in an interview late tonight.
"Here, there is no power that can convoke an early
election, so I have asked Washington to review our
Constitution."

Mr. Chávez's comments came as Thomas Shannon, a special
State Department envoy, met with government officials and
opposition leaders to discuss possible solutions to a
growing crisis that is of deep concern to the Bush
administration.

"We came to the conclusion that the situation was
sufficiently grave enough that it was important that the
Venezuelans understood that we thought moving toward early
elections was the best way to resolve this," Mr. Shannon,
deputy assistant secretary for Western Hemisphere affairs,
said this morning as he prepared to return to Washington.

Though Foreign Minister Roy Chaderton explained that he
"took into account the ideas and observations" offered by
Mr. Shannon, the Chávez administration clearly did not
agree with the White House proposal.

"We would have preferred the White House's position be
presented in another manner," he said in an interview this
morning.

The administration's proposal for "the holding of early
elections" was widely viewed here as an endorsement of the
opposition's position. Mr. Chávez, though, has said his
foes should wait until August for a referendum on his rule,
which could revoke his presidency, or the next presidential
election, set for 2006.

Mr. Chaderton said he was worried about the precedent that
early elections would set, since opposition leaders often
point to Mr. Chavez's fall in popularity and governing
style in arguing for his removal.

"The problem is, are they going to do elections every time
the opposition decides it wants to take power?" Mr.
Chaderton said.

He did not rule out the possibility that the government
would discuss a path toward early elections, but he said an
early election could only happen if the Constitution were
amended, the ferociously anti-Chávez news media
demonstrated restraint and a new less-partisan electoral
board were formed.

His comments underscored the difficult nature of the talks,
in which the government views the opposition as coup
plotters and the government's foes see Mr. Chávez as a
despot taking Venezuela to economic ruin. As increasingly
tense protests take place in the street and the economy
founders, the two sides remain at an impasse in
negotiations being mediated by César Gaviria, general
secretary of the Organization of American States.

Indeed, Mr. Chaderton said he believed that while the
opposition talks about elections, it was really interested
in simply toppling Mr. Chávez. "There is a conspiracy set
up to overthrow the government," the foreign minister said.


The Bush administration, though, concluded that Mr. Chávez
should convene an early election because the country was
reaching the point where the deadlock between the
government and its opponents could set off violence.

Mr. Shannon said the United States strongly supports a
negotiated solution brokered by Mr. Gaviria, but stressed
that it should happen quickly because of the volatile
nature of the situation here.

"The level of confrontation could very easily slip beyond
the grasp of Venezuela's institutions and its political
leadership," Mr. Shannon said.

The Bush administration, worried about Venezuelan oil
supplies, appeared to be taking its most forceful stand on
the crisis here since April, when the White House tacitly
supported the brief removal of Mr. Chávez from office in
the wake of a national strike.

An American official involved in shaping Venezuela policy
justified the new position, saying that it was "not
sufficient for the government to sit on institutional
legitimacy when the country is at risk."

The American call, though, has raised concerns that it
might do more harm than good, hurting Washington's standing
in Caracas while setting a potentially perilous precedent
in other Latin American countries with weak governments and
institutions.

"I think the U.S. could be making a bit of the same mistake
they made in April, getting more involved than they have to
or going further than they have to in expressing their
opinions," said Janet Kelly, a political analyst here.
"Talking about whether the Constitution is a straitjacket
strikes me as untoward."

http://www.nytimes.com/2002/12/15/international/americas/15VENE.html?ex=1041262783&ei=1&en=948e5c436867de5f