Secretary of State Colin Powell strongly urged the Venezuelan government and its opposition Friday to accept one of two proposals offered by former President Jimmy Carter to end the 54-day strike that has largely paralyzed the nation and its oil industry.
As diplomats in Washington and officials in Caracas reported progress toward ending the impasse, several leaders of the opposition movement said they were prepared to begin negotiating on one of Carter’s proposals, a referendum on President Hugo Chavez’s rule.
The opposition’s willingness to discuss the August referendum took some officials by surprise. Leaders of the opposition had said recently that they considered August too late. Some officials viewed this softening of their position as an indication that the opposition believes its strike is losing steam.
In Washington on Friday, the Venezuelan foreign minister, Roy Chaderton, also told reporters that he believed the government had begun to break the strike at the state-owned oil company, asserting that oil production is expected to surpass a million barrels a day soon. Oil-industry analysts have said the government exaggerated oil production during the strike.
Talks to end the impasse moved to the Organization of American States’ headquarters in Washington on Friday as a new group, the Friends of the Secretary General, held its first meeting. The group–which consists of the United States, Mexico, Chile, Brazil, Spain and Portugal–is intended to help Cesar Gaviria, the OAS secretary general, broker a deal.
After a two-hour meeting, Brazilian Foreign Minister Celso Amorim said he sensed a willingness on both sides to discuss Carter’s proposals.
“I am more hopeful today than I was yesterday,” he said.
In a statement to the friends group, Powell called Carter’s proposals “the best path for Venezuelans.”
“They offer a way out of the current impasse,” he said.
Carter offered two proposals Monday in Caracas. One is the referendum, which Chavez has publicly said he would support. The other would be the adoption of a constitutional amendment that would cut the president’s term to four years from six, ending Chavez’s term this year and leading to new elections.
