Statement
on Venezuela from The Carter Center
25 Feb 2003
CONTACT: Deanna Congileo
404-420-5108
ATLANTA….The Carter Center deplores the escalation of violence in
Caracas in the last week and deplores the bombings of the diplomatic
missions of Colombia and Spain in Caracas.
We call on the leadership of the country to hear the demand of the
Venezuelan people for reconciliation and an end to violence in their
country.
We believe that verbal violence and threatening tone of political
leaders, amplified by the media, encourage violent behavior. We
therefore urge President Hugo Chavez and the leaders of the opposition
Coordinadora Democratica, as well as the chiefs of the media, to sign
the Declaration Against Violence and for Peace and Democracy,
subscribed by the members of the Negotiation and Dialogue Table on
Feb. 18, 2003. We are concerned that the events during the past week
undermine the confidence of the Venezuelan people in their leaders'
commitment to the Declaration, and we urge these same leaders to
demonstrate their unequivocal and active adherence to the commitments
stated in that Declaration.
We alert the international community to the rapid deterioration in the
Venezuelan situation. While respecting national sovereignty and
democratic institutions, we urge the international community to
redouble support for all the initiatives designed to produce a
democratic, peaceful, constitutional and electoral solution to the
present crisis.
The Carter Center reiterates its commitment to the efforts led by the
Secretary General of the OAS, Cesar Gaviria, in the Negotiation and
Dialogue Table and to the people of Venezuela who favor peace.
http://www.cartercenter.org/viewdoc.asp?docID=1240&submenu=news