Chavez 'trying to silence Nobel laureate'

Opponents accused President Hugo Chavez of trying to silence his critics today after associates of Lech Walesa said the Nobel Peace Prize laureate would not attend a pro-democracy forum in Venezuela.

Piotr Gulczynski, head of the Warsaw-based Lech Walesa Institute, said Walesa decided to skip this week’s conference organised by anti-Chavez university students. He said Poland’s foreign ministry informed him that Venezuela could not guarantee his security before November 23 governorship and local elections.