Opposition steps up anti-Chavez drive

The opposition in Venezuela has crossed a major hurdle in its attempt to oust President Hugo Chavez by collecting more than the required signatures to seek a recall vote.

The opposition newspaper El Nuevo Pais reported on Monday that 2.4 million signatures had been collected by Sunday. It added that the figure would reach more than three million.

The legal requirement for a referendum is 2.1 million.

"The referendum will show that at least two out of every three Venezuelans want the president to leave," editor Rafael Poleo said in a front page column.

Al Jazeera

Caracas, Dec 2 (Venezuelanalysis.com)The fourth day of the opposition’s petition drive to call for a recall referendum against President Chavez ended today amidst celebrations and an odd media silence.

While opposition leader Henry Ramos Allup suggested that the opposition had collected four million signatures, another opposition leader, Enrique Mendoza urged the supporters of the opposition to go onto the streets and to celebrate their success. His call, however, was largely ignored.

Chavez supporters, on the other hand, such as Infrastructure Minister Diodado Cabello, said that the opposition had collected no more than two million signatures, which would mean that the opposition’s campaign failed, since at least 2.4 million signatures are necessary to convoke a recall referendum. Leaders of Chavez’ party, the MVR, called for people to gather in front of the presidential palace. That evening a large enthusiastic crowd of thousands of Chavistas gathered to celebrate what they considered to be their victory over the opposition. (For a comparison of the opposition and Chavista celebrations, see: http://www.aporrea.org/audio/1103/011203.rm)

President Chavez addressed the crowd late in the night, in a victory speech, which went well past midnight. In the course of his speech he reiterated the charges of fraud which were raised during the petition drive. Also, he strongly criticized OAS secretary general Ceasar Gaviria for not coming to visit him and for making pronouncements that the petition drive was without major fraud issues.

http://www.venezuelanalysis.com/news.php?newsno=1121
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