Venezuela May Get a Chavez Vote

This country’s government and the opposition reached a preliminary agreement Friday preparing the way for a referendum on President Hugo Chavez’s rule.

The still-unsigned deal -- announced exactly a year after dissident generals ejected Chavez from power in a coup, only for loyalists to reinstall him two days later -- is the most significant achievement to emerge from five months of negotiations mediated by the Organization of American States.

Both sides agreed to observe mutual respect and abide by Venezuela’s laws and constitution as they seek an electoral solution to the country’s crisis.

“I trust that this agreement will prosper and that Venezuela’s democratic institutions are strengthened as a result of its application,” OAS Secretary-General Cesar Gaviria said in New York shortly after the deal was announced in Caracas, the capital.

The agreement represents the first clear signal from the opposition that it is focusing solely on a referendum to depose the outspoken president and the first guarantee from the government that it will do nothing to obstruct such a vote.

Gaviria initiated the peace talks in November and took up semipermanent residence in Venezuela as he worked to form a bridge between the two bitterly opposed sides. But until Friday, the talks -- which were disrupted by a devastating two-month national strike called by the opposition and blighted by a lack of cooperation on both sides -- had failed to bear fruit.

Earlier Friday, Chavez had expressed doubt about the effectiveness of the negotiations, suggesting that the opposition delegates represented the extremist “coup-plotting” elements of society and should be replaced by “genuine politicians.”

He also made it clear to the opposition that the road to a referendum -- legally permitted anytime after Aug. 19, halfway through Chavez’s term -- remained long and potentially arduous.

The opposition says it has collected far more than the 2.5 million signatures needed to petition for the vote, but Chavez maintains that these names are not valid. A new National Electoral Council, being set up by the National Assembly, must decide the issue.

Vice President Jose Vicente Rangel, a member of the government delegation at the peace talks, highlighted the inclusion of the referendum in the agreement as a major step forward. But his opposition counterpart, labor boss Manuel Cova, remained cautious.