Venezuela

Court misses deadline for elections authority

Venezuela’s Supreme Court did not meet a self-imposed deadline Sunday for naming a new elections authority that could organize a possible referendum on President Hugo Chavez’s rule.

Chavez, speaking during his weekly television show, said a consensus within the court broke down after some judges were pressured by opposition members to appoint a biased panel to the National Electoral Council, or CNE.

“I am sure that the Supreme Court will defeat the conspiration campaign … to try to get a CNE named that is subordinate to that gross oligarchy,” Chavez said.

Chavez opponents have turned in 2.7 million signatures demanding a referendum on ending Chavez’s tumultuous presidency. Venezuela’s constitution allows citizens to demand a referendum halfway into a president’s term.

Geneva

WTO negotiator creates compromise proposal

World Trade Organization envoys gathered at the body’s lakeside headquarters for a proposal by Carlos Perez del Castillo — Uruguay’s ambassador and chairman of the WTO General Council — on how to bridge differences for cutting subsidies and import tariffs on agricultural produce, manufactured goods and service industries such as banking and telecommunications.

There was no immediate reaction from diplomats as they reviewed the document, but the proposal is likely to face criticism. Negotiators will have a chance to comment today.

The document is the proposed text of an agreement to be signed by trade ministers from all 146 WTO member states at a meeting next month in Cancun, Mexico.

The differences between rich and poor nations are huge, and Perez del Castillo cautioned that his proposal “does not purport to be agreed in any part at this stage, and is without prejudice to any delegation’s position on any issue.”