 |
||||||||
 |
||||||||
|
||||||||
|
Chavez foes promise peaceful resolutionCompiled from Times wires© St. Petersburg Times published January 19, 2003 CARACAS, Venezuela -- Foes of President Hugo Chavez vowed on Saturday to step up efforts to resolve the country's crisis peacefully -- one day after troops battled through protesters to raid privately owned bottling plants. Government adversaries urged Venezuelans to use their vote in a Feb. 2 nonbinding referendum on Chavez's rule rather than respond to violence with violence. Opposition representatives at talks mediated by the Organization of American States said they would plow on with negotiations despite statements by Chavez that the government could leave the talks. "The president can try to leave the table with a characteristically violent gesture but we reply with civilized, democratic and peaceful behavior," said Alejandro Armas, one of six opposition representatives at the talks. "We are going to stay at the table." Cesar Gaviria, the OAS secretary-general, began mediating the talks in November. Little progress has been made while a 7-week-old strike called to force Chavez from office threatens to destroy Venezuela's economy. On Friday, soldiers seized food and drink from Venezuela's largest food company, Empresas Polar, and an affiliate of U.S. soft drink giant Coca-Cola to distribute. Saturday, dozens of anti-Chavez protesters demonstrated outside a bottling plant in Valencia. One banner read, "Don't Buy Stolen Coke!" Chavez was in Brazil on Saturday to speak with President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva about the newest initiative to end the stalemate. Australian fires kill 2CANBERRA, Australia -- Wildfires erupting from forested hills killed two people and destroyed 388 houses in Australia's capital. A state of emergency was declared in what officials were calling the worst fire in Canberra's 60-year history. "The situation is extremely grim," said John Stanhope, the city's chief administrator. Fanned by 40-mile-an-hour winds, the fires struck 30 neighborhoods, cut off major highways and power lines and forced thousands of residents to abandon their homes and sleep in school halls overnight. Palestinian shot in GazaJERUSALEM -- A Palestinian man fixing a satellite dish on his rooftop was shot and killed in the Gaza Strip on Saturday, Palestinians said. In the West Bank, Israeli troops killed a Palestinian who took part in a deadly attack on a Jewish settlement, the army said. Also, Prime Minister Ariel Sharon said in comments to be published in Newsweek this week that a peace plan being worked out by the so-called Quartet of nations should not be taken seriously. The group -- the United Nations, United States, European Union and Russia -- was working on a plan to present to the Israelis and Palestinians in February. Late Saturday, dozens of Jewish settlers rioted in the West Bank town of Hebron in response to the previous day's attack at the nearby Kiryat Arba settlement. Elsewhere . . .COLOMBIA: Villagers fled their homes in remote northwestern Colombia and soldiers patrolled the region after suspected leftist rebels shot and killed at least 16 people, officials said. Survivors of Thursday night's killings in Antioquia province told local authorities that fighters from the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC, rounded up the victims, accused them of being members of a rival right-wing paramilitary army and then shot them in the head. JAPAN: Doctors completed prostate surgery on Japan's Emperor Akihito, saying there were no signs his cancer had spread and predicting a full recovery. The operation went smoothly. The 69-year old emperor was diagnosed with cancer last month.
 © 2006 • All Rights Reserved • St. Petersburg Times
490 First Avenue South • St. Petersburg, FL 33701 • 727-893-8111 
|
From the Times wire desk
From the AP |
