High-ranking government officials in Caracas are saying that the only way the dispute between Venezuela and the Dominican Republic can be resolved is if the Dominican authorities clamp down on the alleged scheme being devised here against Venezuela’s President Chavez. Last month Venezuela suspended its oil exports to the DR and withdrew its ambassador, in retaliation for the Dominican government’s supposed complicity in Venezuelan opposition activities in the DR. Former Venezuelan President Carlos Andres Perez is a longtime resident of the Dominican Republic and believed to be involved in the alleged assassination conspiracy. Wanted on corruption charges in his country, Perez recently left the Dominican Republic for what was said to be an indefinite period. Deputy Foreign Minister Arevalo Mendez called the predicament “an isolated problem” and said that answers were needed “before the situation could return to normal.” He went on to say, “We have to be optimistic, but the solution is not up to Venezuela. We do not want ambiguity. Venezuelan democracy needs that Dominican support.” Hoy newspaper quotes Venezuelan deputy Dario Vivas as saying that high-ranking members of the Dominican government, such as Public Works Minister Miguel Vargas Maldonado, have proven business links with Carlos Andres Perez and that the Dominican government had been “permissive” with the activities of Venezuelan opposition on its soil.
El Caribe reports that the Dominican ambassador to the Organization of American States (OAS), Sofia Leonor Sanchez Baret, met with Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez yesterday to further an attempt at smoothing over the dispute. Sanchez Baret said after the meeting that Chavez “remains displeased” with the Dominican Republic. She went on, however, to express optimism about the situation, saying that a meeting between the two Presidents was needed to heal the rift. Listin Diario quotes PRD Senator Cesar Augusto Matias as saying that the Venezuelan government is “in cahoots” with the Dominican opposition PLD party to prevent President Hipolito Mejia’s re-election.
Meanwhile, PLD pre-Presidential candidate Leonel Fernandez is recommending that the government send a “good-will mission” to Caracas to discuss the issue.