Almost all of the Dominican papers carried the smiling faces of Presidents Chavez of Venezuela and Mejia of the Dominican Republic, locked in a firm handshake and exuding
Bonhomie. Chavez and Mejia were reported to have conversed on the discord caused by the latter’s accusation of an assassination plot being hatched in the Dominican Republic. The lack of what was considered in Venezuela to be an adequate response, led to the stoppage of Venezuelan oil shipments to the DR. Sunday’s Hoy newspaper reported that President Chavez announced that relations between the two countries to have been “normalized”. According to the report filed by Manuel Jimenez, Chavez told reporters that the respective foreign ministers have been instructed to get together immediately to restore all diplomatic, commercial and petroleum relations. Dominican Foreign Minister Frank Guerrero Prats said that the heads of the two nation’s petroleum entities should also meet soon. Guerrero Prats also referred to President Vicente Fox of Mexico and his promise to create a mechanism to free up US$200 million in loans that the DR is entitled to access under the San Jose Accord.