By ANDRES OPPENHEIMER
             Herald Staff Writer

             WASHINGTON -- Venezuelan President-elect Hugo Chavez, a populist who
             had been barred from entering the United States because of his 1992 coup
             attempt, held what he described as a ``lively, fraternal'' meeting with President
             Clinton at the White House on Wednesday.

             Senior U.S. officials portrayed the meeting as a success, adding that Chavez
             seemed sincere in his pledges to respect the rules of democracy and respect free
             market economic reforms.

             ``Based not only on what he had to say today but on what he has been saying for
             the past month or so, he is clearly not the person he was in 1992, when he
             attempted to stage a coup,'' James Dobbins, a top Clinton aide on Latin American
             policy, said after the meeting.

             Chavez, who had to cancel a trip to New York scheduled for today because of
             what doctors diagnosed as severe colitis, arrived in Washington early Wednesday,
             and made a 45-minute visit to White House national security advisor Sandy Berger
             in the afternoon.

             As previously arranged, Clinton dropped in on the meeting at Berger's office, and
             spent 20 minutes with Chavez. They discussed Chavez's plan to reform
             Venezuela's constitution and close Congress, which has raised fears of a potential
             break of constitutional rule, and also talked about drug trafficking, plans for Latin
             America's economic integration, the peace process in Colombia and Venezuela's
             economic troubles.

             Giving assurances

             U.S. officials seemed pleased by what they heard. Chavez gave assurances that his
             political reforms would be carried out ``within the democratic and constitutional
             framework,'' U.S. officials said.

             While both sides described the talks as a courtesy call to get acquainted, Chavez
             accepted an invitation to return to Washington on Feb. 24-26 to participate in a
             conference on corruption and international crime organized by Vice President Al
             Gore. Chavez said he expects to hold more talks with Clinton at that time.

             ``I think there was good chemistry,'' Dobbins said. ``. . . He impressed everybody.
             He was vital, articulate and saying the right things.''

             Chavez had originally requested a full-fledged meeting at Clinton's office, but U.S.
             officials negotiated the encounter at Berger's office as a compromise that would
             satisfy the visitor, while at the same time suggesting some U.S. nervousness over
             his anti-democratic past.

             Visa tensions history

             A relaxed Chavez told reporters after the meeting that ``we have begun this
             relation between Venezuela and the United States on a good footing.''

             Clinton administration officials say they are trying to help Chavez, and that
             previous tensions over his U.S. visa are ``a thing of the past.''

             Chavez, a former army officer who said five years ago during a visit to Cuba that
             he was ``proud'' to have been denied a U.S. visa, has significantly moderated his
             rhetoric since his landslide election victory late last year.

             ``The impression is that this is somebody who wants to work with the rest of the
             international leadership, and to clearly conduct a responsible, democratic and
             innovative set of policies,'' Dobbins said. ``We do believe that there is a process of
             maturation.''

             Following his meeting with Clinton, Chavez was to hold separate meetings with
             IMF chief Michel Camdessus, Treasury Secretary Robert Rubin and Energy
             Secretary Bill Richardson.
 

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