CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) -- Hoping to stem a series of violent
                  campaign-related confrontations, election officials on Sunday called on
                  Venezuela's political parties to commit themselves to peaceful campaigning.

                  The National Election Council, which has come under fire for being partial to
                  President Hugo Chavez' political coalition, has invited 22 political organizations to
                  meet this week to discuss a "pact of nonaggression."

                  "The goal is to guarantee Venezuelans that this process will develop through
                  totally peaceful means and will culminate with a great celebration of Venezuelan
                  democracy," the council's president, Etanislao Gonzalez, said.

                  The council's call for a meeting follows a Carter Center report on Venezuela
                  warning of a "campaign climate of harsh personal attacks."

                  On Friday, Chavez' main rival, Francisco Arias Cardenas, was forced to suspend
                  campaign activities in a poor neighborhood after the president's supporters threw
                  bricks, vegetables and trash at him. The next day, the campaign car of an
                  opposition mayoral candidate was vandalized.

                  Arias Cardenas, a former military officer who helped Chavez stage his failed
                  1992 coup, accused the president of paying off those who attacked him last
                  week.

                  Chavez denied the charge and urged his followers over the weekend to leave his
                  rival in peace because "indifference hurts more than a rock."

                  Venezuela's new constitution pushed through by Chavez last year requires voters
                  to "re-legitimize" all public offices on May 28.

                  Chavez leads Arias Cardenas by more than 20 points in most polls, despite
                  soaring unemployment and crime rates and recent ruptures within the Venezuelan
                  leader's political coalition.

                  Copyright 2000 The Associated Press.