Venezuelans Slip Deeper Into Crisis

CARACAS, Venezuela -- Hopes for a quick solution to this country’s political crisis seemed to fade Tuesday as legislative efforts stalled, negotiations foundered, attacks against the media increased and nearly half the Supreme Court walked out in protest.

The developments created a stalemate in attempts to resolve the conflict between President Hugo Chavez and his opponents in Venezuela, the third-largest supplier of oil to the U.S.

Oil exports remained shut down, gasoline continued running short, and the opposition announced that it would carry on a nationwide strike for a 10th day. As efforts to end the protest fell short, fears were growing about a possible descent into violence, such as when Chavez was briefly ousted in a coup in April before being restored by loyal troops.

“At the highest levels of government, this is a matter of concern,” said a U.S. official.

Chavez’s opponents, a coalition that includes businesses, unions and major media groups, accuse him of ruining the country and want him to resign and hold early elections. The president insists that the constitution forbids a binding referendum until August.

There seemed to be little willingness to compromise. With Cesar Gaviria, the secretary-general of the Organization of American States, mediating, the sides discussed a variety of electoral possibilities, including creating a new elections council and allowing an early vote.

“I can’t say we’ve advanced much,” Gaviria said at the end of three hours of talks. The strike was to continue today.

Denying that the strike was succeeding, Chavez’s allies insisted that they had regained control of the country’s state oil company, PDVSA, and had managed to patch together a skeleton network of refinery workers, truck drivers and tanker crews to get gasoline flowing.

“If we can resolve [the problems with] PDVSA in the next few days, the country will return to normalcy,” said Nicolas Maduro, a government negotiator and pro-Chavez congressman. “We believe we will be able to achieve this.”

Gas distributors, however, described an ad hoc system in which inexperienced workers were causing delays, crashing trucks and writing down orders on slips of paper.

“It’s a mess,” one dealer said.

Meanwhile, moderate allies of Chavez tried to introduce a bill in the National Assembly that would be the first step to a constitutional amendment that would permit early elections.

But opposition deputies -- who, in support of the protesters, have not attended a session since the strike began Dec. 2 -- failed to attend, leaving the assembly without a quorum. Chavez allies hold a slim majority of the 165 National Assembly seats.

Moreover, interviews with opposition and government deputies showed that support for the amendment was weak, with both sides resisting the bill for different reasons.

Deputies with Chavez’s political party, the Fifth Republic Movement, said they insisted on the appointment of a new electoral council before discussions could begin on a constitutional amendment -- a process that could take months.

And opposition deputies said they simply didn’t trust the government.

“We need a solid commitment from them. So far, they haven’t made good on these kinds of promises.... They don’t have any credit,” said Jose Luis Farias, a congressman of the Solidarity party.

Further complicating the picture, eight of the 20 Supreme Court justices announced that they were suspending all nonessential judicial activities to protest recent actions by the legislature to remove the court’s first vice president.

The legislature accused Franklin Arriechi of lying on his resume when he was named to the court. Critics said the removal was retribution for an Arriechi ruling that exonerated some of the April coup leaders.

It was unclear what effect the justices’ protest would have; there is at least one complaint before the court related to a proposed referendum in February on Chavez’s rule.

“Until the harassment, insults and persecution against us cease and dignified, objective and subjective conditions exist for the administration of justice, we will abstain from participating in Supreme Court activities that are not strictly related to guaranteeing access to justice,” said Alberto Martinez, one of the eight jurists.

Chavez supporters surrounded television and radio stations throughout the country for a second night Tuesday, further aggravating tensions. On Monday, at least one television station was ransacked.

Chavez has denounced the media, accusing them of “almost criminal” behavior in suggesting that he had something to do with an attack against an anti-Chavez protest last week that left three dead. The one person under arrest in connection with the attack has given a confused confession, and police told a local newspaper that tests showed he was under the influence of drugs during the attack.

“We are going to defend our independence,” said Marcel Granier, owner of a TV station that was surrounded by peaceful protesters banging pots and pans. “This is approaching the territory of genocide.”