Media Center

Background


PRESS RELEASE OF THE ORGANIZATION OF AMERICAN STATES (OAS)
AND THE CARTER CENTER

  April 15, 2004

The Organization of American States (OAS) and The Carter Center have been participating in the meetings that the CNE has formally held about the mechanisms for the correction period, in order to listen to the proposals and concerns of the actors involved in the recall referendum process.

We welcome the efforts put forth by the authorities of the CNE, as well as the representatives of the Democratic Coordinator and the Ayacucho Command, to achieve a transparent, simple, secure and agile mechanism to conclude the recall referendum petition process.

We consider it vitally important to guarantee the rights of those citizens who participated in the signature collections and to provide them with a mechanism for ratification or exclusion of their signature that is easily accessible, transparent and free from pressure. This also requires proceeding in a timely manner with the other constitutional provisions for the recall referenda, paying attention to the time periods provided for in the Bolivarian Constitution of Venezuela. To this end, we urge those involved to maximize the efforts made thus far and to resolve any outstanding concerns on the basis of consensus and as swiftly as possible in order to conclude this phase satisfactorily.

We call, at the same time, on all sectors of society and national institutions to contribute to the goal of achieving a peaceful, democratic, constitutional, and electoral resolution of the crisis, as was expressed in the accord of May 29, 2003. We maintain our commitment to continue collaborating with the authorities and the people of Venezuela.



CONTACTS:
Javier Montes, OAS, 58-414-249-9554, [email protected]
Kay Torrance, The Carter Center, 404-420-5129, [email protected]

Reference: VE-041504E