Chavez announces 'national front' for Venezuela

["Fred Feldman" <ffeldman@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

AFP. 11 May 2003. Chavez announces "national front" for Venezuela.

CARACAS -- President Hugo Chavez announced Sunday the formation of a
"national front."

"In July, the national front of Venezuela will be born, the union of all
of us to continue the project outlined in the Constitution," he said
speaking on his radio program "Hello, Mr. President."

Involved in the group would be center-left parties and civil
organizations, as well as groupings of "women, unions, drivers, rural
workers," Chavez said.

A new conspiracy, he said, is attempting to "fill the country with
rumors, using television and the media."

"There is a new destabilizing campaign. Now it's coming from the social
side," said Chavez.

The "social" coup being prepared against the government could
destabilize the supply of food and medicine, said Chavez, noting that
rumors had been circulating "for more than three months."

Chavez also announced that Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva
would shortly be visiting Venezuela to boost the "strategic alliance
between the two nations."

Ahead of Lula's trip, a delegation from Brazil's Petrobras oil company
would come to Venezuela to discuss potential joint energy projects, he
said.