Venezuela ?

How do I keep informed on the vote there ?

What news sources are covering this ?

This is huge for the US, we should all be watching

GO CHAVEZ !

we'll have results tonight.

I have read that the opposition has retracted the threat to put out results showing them in the lead at 2PM, whether or not they were actually leading - in order to cause chaos in the streets as people were still lined up to vote.

Big day for the Busholinis in Venezuela - it is they who are really what the vote is all about. The whole world needs a Chavez landlslide.


http://www.venezuelanalysis.com/articles.php?artno=1246

<snip>

"Despite its awesome firepower and the unquenchable thirst for oil that guides United States foreign policy, the Bush administration is about to suffer a significant defeat on Sunday, August 15 at the hands of the Venezuelan people.

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez and most political analysts agree that the real opposition in the upcoming recall vote is the US government."

<snip>

"Before Chavez shook up the status quo, the world had grown accustomed to Venezuela's elite lining its pockets as they sacked the country of billions in oil revenues, earning it a ranking as one of the most corrupt nation's on the planet."

<snip>

"For the first time in Venezuelan history, oil revenues are visibly linked to important social and economic programs to benefit the majority of the people. These include credit for small farmers and business people, important public works projects and large-scale education, health, cultural and sports programs."

In a surprise statement published in Venezuela's TalCual tabloid, Union Party president, Lt. Colonel (ret.) Francisco Arias Cardenas is musing on the possibility of voting with the government and say nay to a recall referendum against President Hugo Chavez Frias.

The scoop was picked out from an interview that Chavez Frias' former comrade-in-arms gave to newspaper Correio Braziliense.

Despite his differences with Chavez Frias, the former Zulia State Governor says he sees no leader among the opposition capable of assuming Chavez Frias' place and that if the opposition wins, it would create a political vacuum and chaos.


http://www.vheadline.com/readnews.asp?id=22427

"This is the largest turnout I have ever seen," exclaimed former President Jimmy Carter, who was helping to monitor the vote. "There are thousands of people in line, waiting patiently and without any disturbance."

Lines snaked for many blocks outside polling stations in upscale anti-Chavez neighborhoods and in slums where the president maintains a loyal following because of his social programs on behalf of the poor, including scholarships, medical care and literacy campaigns.

Many Venezuelans adore the 50-year-old former army paratrooper for his efforts to improve the lives of the impoverished majority in the nation of 25 million. But critics say his "revolutionary" rhetoric has vilified the middle class and widened the gap between rich and poor. Many fear he is gradually imposing a Cuba-style dictatorship.

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20040815/ap_on_re_la_am_ca/venezuela_recall_21

as popular in Venezuela as FDR was here.

WTF is this bullshit?? Sounds like their media is just as biased and corrupt as the US media.

How is holding a Democratic election moving closer to a dictatorship? Sheesh!

Speaking of a fear of a dictatorship, what if their leader came in second in the national vote but took office anyway by judicial fiat with the help of his fathers crony appointees. Changes all kinds of laws voiding or changing the constitution and giving more and more power and secrecy to the executive branch. Then goes around making public statements like 'this would be a lot better if it were a dictatorship'.


And the 'many fear' is an old propaganda trick. You could also say .. 'Many fear that Merlin the Magician will sneak into the presidents house and transform him into Adolph Hitler'.

barrios in Venezuela and deal with the medical problems among the profoundly poor people there who have been simply S### out of luck for all this time previously.

It's not as if the Cuban doctors just jumped the gun and butted into the Venezuelan doctors' affairs. They have had forever to find a way to bring help to the hopeless and it simply hasn't been profitable enough for them to move off their fat asses.

That's the terrifying "Cuban" threat. Someone came in and helped treat the very people they have kicked to the curb. Jackasses!

Chavez a "demon?" Zuckerman? That guy really
is from another planet.

and Jimmy Carter has a very much undeserved reputation in bringing free elections/democratic rule to third world nations

think I'm talking out my ass?

do a little checking

bonus interview with SIBEL EDMONDS at beginning

then, James Petras: an adviser to the landless and jobless in Brazil and Argentina and is co-author of Globalization Unmasked (http://zedbooks.co.uk/).
He is also the author of today's top Counterpunch story, "The Venezuelan Referendum: The Truth About Jimmy Carter" http://www.counterpunch.org/petras07082004.html

listen here
http://server.wnur.org/thisishell/archive/20040710_3.ram

subject it's a miracle that this surfaced. It explains so much I had just been suspecting, unfortunately.

Very sad to get the confirmation done so in such a credible manner. I'm certain the author's right on target.

I've been wild about Jimmy Carter for so long, it really kills me to see this, but good grief, you've got to let go when faced with reality, right?

Definitely appreciate the reference to the more obscured role played by Human Rights Watch.

Kerry's position on Venezuela really distresses me, seeing as its based on untruths about Chavez's policies and accomplishments.

All I can say is, GO CHAVEZ! Fuck the oligarchy!

And they wonder why people would do something such as 9/11.

I wonder what took them so long.

Voters used touch-screen voting machines to answer the referendum question of whether they wanted to end the mandate of a president reviled by opponents as an inept and bullying tyrant and hailed by supporters as a populist champion of the poor.

http://www.swisspolitics.org/en/news/index.php?section=int&page=news_inhalt&news_id=5146805

The article isnt very clear at all.

If its all touchscreen then you can forget it.

Wonder if they are made and programmed by Diebold. This could be a trial run for the US computer voting.

Anybody have more info on this???

Despite an electronic voting fiasco in 2000 and the furor over e-voting in the United States, Venezuela is using untested touchscreen computers for its recall referendum on Hugo Chavez's presidency.
Critics fear touchscreen voting machines in the Aug. 15 vote could fail spectacularly, exacerbating a crisis over Chavez's rule that has polarized the world's No. 5 oil exporter and killed dozens in sporadic political violence.

The touchscreen machines on which a third of the U.S. electorate will vote in November are dangerously vulnerable to hackers, rigging and mechanical failure, computer scientists generally agree. That didn't deter the Chavez-dominated Venezuelan Elections Council from choosing Smartmatic Corp., a little-known Boca Raton, Fla.-based company, to provide similar technology - albeit with a printed record of each vote - for the referendum. Smartmatic has never tested its machines in an election. And there has been no independent analysis or certification of its touchscreen system, although the council says the system will be audited before the vote.
http://www.wjla.com/news/stories/0704/158551.html

The Washington Post's Jackson Diehl Strikes Out on Venezuela

Wednesday, Aug 11, 2004

By: Council on Hemispheric Affairs

Isn't it fitting that Jackson Diehl uses a baseball metaphor in his August 2 "A Missile from the South," which savages Venezuela's President Chavez with surprising immoderacy. The author's appraisal of that country's political situation grossly "strikes out" due to its surfeit of flaws. But, in true Chavista style, Diehl's extended "rant" exemplifies the misdirected assessment that permeates some, but by no means all, media accounts, which often have heightened tension rather than enhanced comprehension of Venezuela's political complexities. By referring to Chavez' predicted referendum victory as an "incoming missile," Diehl's own inflammatory rhetoric can only worsen the explosive atmosphere existing in a country already split in half. If heeded, it is likely to cause grave damage to Washington's alarmingly strained standing throughout Latin America.
(snip/...)

http://www.venezuelanalysis.com/articles.php?artno=1238

betterment of his people....it'll be a real stick in the eye for the Bushco robber barons....would be really refreshing to see a country use it's resources for the people....we'll see.

Iran...In the early 50's

The USA killed that idea and installed the Shah

Which guy appears to look like the sneaky one who has never been elected?

This photo taken at the Monterrey Summit last year.

"Voting has been extended for a second time in Venezuela where huge numbers have turned out to decide whether Hugo Chavez should remain as president."

<snip>

"Voting was initially extended until by two hours until 2000 (0000 GMT), but now people will be allowed to vote until midnight (0400 GMT Monday)"

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/3566970.stm

Guess we will be waiting until morning to learn the results.