Rome (Fides Service) – “Venezuela is experiencing a profound political crisis, the country needs urgently a peaceful, constitutional and electoral solution” . This was affirmed by the Catholic Bishops Conference of Venezuela in a recent statement. The Bishops called on President Chavez to guarantee a fair referendum. The state must guarantee that the referendum is held without irregularities, the Bishops said in a statement issued after the Opposition accused the government of intimidating civil servants from taking part in any vote. The opposition leaders accuse Chavez of threatening state workers and members of the armed forces who voted for his removal from office. The President, who survived two coups last year, accused the Bishops of supporting the Opposition and he called Church leaders in Venezuela a “cancer” for society. The Church leaders accused his left-wing government of bringing crime, poverty and division to the country. AP (Fides Service 31/10/2003 EM lines 16 Words: 157)