Posted on 3-3-2004
Venezuela Panel Rules on Chavez
Recall
CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) - Venezuela's elections council ruled
Tuesday that the opposition lacked enough signatures to force
a recall referendum against President Hugo Chavez. Even before
the ruling, anti-government rioting surged in at least 11 cities.
Chavez opponents say they submitted more than 3.4 million signatures.
Some 2.4 million are needed for a recall election.
But council President Francisco Carrasquero announced that
just 1.83 million signatures were valid. Another 876,016 signatures
may be valid - if citizens confirm that they indeed signed the
petition, Carrasquero said.
The council said that voters whose signatures were under dispute
would have between March 18 and March 22 to report to voting
centers to confirm that they indeed had signed the petition.
Venezuela's opposition claims that such a monumental task,
involving hundreds of thousands of citizens, could indefinitely
postpone the referendum or derail it entirely.
Even before the announcement, protests surged as the opposition
anticipated the result. National guard troops in armored personnel
carriers rolled through several cities as demonstrators burned
tires and hurled rocks and gasoline bombs at soldiers. Sporadic
gunfire was heard for a second straight night in Caracas.
Protests were reported in at least 10 other cities, including
the industrial centers of Valencia and Barquisimeto and the
western oil city of Maracaibo.
Many opposition leaders had said they would not accept a decision
requiring voters to confirm their signatures. The measure was
allegedly not included in rules established for the verification
process, they said.
Opposition lawmaker Julio Borges protested the decision and
called for more protests while insisting that ``Venezuela doesn't
have a thirst for blood. Venezuela is hungry to vote.''
He claimed that 200,000 signatures were unaccounted for in
the council's declaration.
Chavez's foes have been blocking traffic throughout Caracas
since Friday to protest what they view as a government plot
to derail the referendum - their last chance of legally ousting
Chavez before the next elections in 2006.
At least one person has been killed and 60 wounded since Friday.
Dozens have been arrested.
Venezuelans had been waiting since Sunday for the council to
release its findings.
The opposition tried to dislodge Chavez, a populist leftist
first elected in 1998, through a shortlived coup in 2002 and
a general strike that dragged on for two months last year.
Prodded by the Organization of American States and the U.S.-based
Carter Center, the government and the opposition agreed in May
on ground rules for an eventual recall referendum.
The petitions were delivered in December. But electoral authorities
continue to delay an announcement on whether the recall effort
can go ahead.
If Chavez loses in a referendum held before mid-August, the
midway point for his term, new presidential elections must be
held. But if he loses in a vote held after mid-August, Vice
President Jose Vicente Rangel would take over for the rest of
his term.
Opponents fear if that happens, Chavez would merely rule behind
his right-hand man for the rest of his term, which ends in January
2007.
The opposition charges the elections council belatedly changed
the rules to disqualify hundreds of thousands of signatures.
The council says observers were told not to allow voters to
simply sign already filled-out forms. But thousands of signatures
were delivered that way.
After Tuesday's decision, the OAS and Carter Center - which
have said they saw no evidence of fraud - insisted they would
stay involved in the electoral process to ensure everyone who
signed for the referendum will have their signature count.
Despite ``some discrepancies'' with the council decision, especially
over placing the burden of proof on citizens being asked to
confirm their signatures, the OAS and Carter Center will insist
on ``an electoral solution'' to Venezuela's political crisis,
said OAS delegate Fernando Jaramillo.
The two groups also issued an ``urgent'' appeal for an end
to the violence.
The OAS, Carter Center, Argentina, Brazil and other countries
have urged Venezuelan authorities to overlook glitches and respect
the apparent will of voters. Chavez - re-elected to a six-year
term in 2000 - rejects their pleas as foreign interference and
insists the petition is ridden with fraud.
Defense Minister Gen. Jorge Carneiro insisted his troops will
restore order if necessary in areas where protests have been
strongest - especially eastern Caracas, an anti-Chavez stronghold.
Chavez's government urged opposition mayors to stop rioting
by deploying their police forces.
``It's amazing to see how some mayors are allowing the destruction
of their own municipalities, private property and streets and
their citizens' security,'' said Vice Security Minister Carlos
Valter Bettid.
Protests forced private banks to shut 20 branch offices; prevented
garbage collection; caused traffic jams and hampered transit
by emergency vehicles. For a second day, thousands were unable
to get to work.
The government published full-page newspaper ads Tuesday declaring
that ``violence is the shortest path to losing everything.''
Opposition labor leader Manuel Cova countered: ``Today they
might steal our signatures. Tomorrow they might steal our votes.''
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