'We Can Be Different'.(Interview with Hugo Chavez, Venezuelan President.)(Interview)

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez is facing a political rebellion at home, but he didn't let that stop him from making a whirlwind tour of Europe earlier this month. He addressed the U.N. Food and Agriculture Or- ganization in Rome, met French President Jacques Chirac, visited the King of Norway and lectured at Oxford University in England on the problems of global poverty. There, he spoke with NEWSWEEK's Tara Pepper. Excerpts:

Opposition to your government is ripping Venezuela apart right now. What are you doing to improve the situation?

The country has been divided for a long time [between] a privileged minority and the poor. That's a very dangerous split. We are fostering a peaceful revolution to reunify the country in the social and economic arena. The fact that we have an opposition is not a matter of concern. On the contrary, it clearly indicates that we are a free country, where people can express their disagreement. If you disagree you have the right to protest on the streets, organize meetings--that's a democracy. We can be different, and have different views. That doesn't mean that we are going to fight to death. If we are rational enough, we can coexist in the same country.

Oil makes up four fifths of your exports, and maintaining high prices is clearly important to your economic policy. How do you reconcile that with consumer concerns in the United States that oil prices are too steep?

We are a member of OPEC, and the OPEC policy is our policy. The aim is to [maintain] a price balance in the market [so we can be] a secure source of oil for the world, and continue exploring for new fields. People might think that low oil prices are good for the United States, but you forget that America also produces oil. It produces even more than Venezuela does. I've met people who produce oil in the U.S., and they are very thankful that Venezuela has been able to revive the price of oil. Three years ago small oil producers in the U.S. were shutting down wells because they ...