Hugo Chavez Loses Referendum...

[Nbadan]

..and then thanks his opponents...


http://i.l.cnn.net/cnn/2007/WORLD/americas/12/03/venezuela.referendum/art.venezuela.chavez.afp.gi.jpg
not so dictator-ish after all


CARACAS, Venezuela (CNN) -- Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez's detractors danced in the streets Monday after voters shot down a referendum that would have allowed the firebrand leftist to seek re-election indefinitely and tightened socialism's grip on his oil-rich nation.
art.venezuela.chavez.afp.gi.jpg

In Caracas, Valencia, Maracaibo and other major cities, large crowds spilled into the streets, shouting, chanting, clapping and waving flags. One man carried a sign proclaiming, "Vota No," which by Monday was more an exclamation than an imperative after voters the day before dismissed 69 proposed amendments to Venezuela's 1999 constitution.

Chavez said Monday he accepted the vote, calling the slim margin of victory -- 51 percent to 49 percent, according to early reports -- a "photo finish."

The vote represented a rare poll defeat for Chavez, who has generally enjoyed popular support among the lower classes. Among the exceptions: a bitter national strike, an abortive coup against him in 2002 and a 2004 attempt to recall him as president, a vote he easily survived.

Many of Monday's revelers were university students who had worked doggedly to defeat the proposals. They burst into singing the national anthem upon hearing news that their efforts paid off.

"This is not a moment only for students; it is for the whole country," student Juan Andres Mejia said. "It's time for us to start walking the same path to walking together, and I think this day could be the start of a new republic of a new Venezuela." Video Watch what led to the referendum's defeat »

In Washington, the White House applauded the results of the vote.

"We congratulate the people of Venezuela on their vote and their continued desire to live in freedom and democracy," said National Security Council spokesman Gordon Johndroe.

In what he called a talk "from my heart," Chavez said the election results proved Venezuelan democracy was maturing, a sentiment echoed by Tibisay Lucena, president of the National Electoral Council.

CNN (http://www.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/americas/12/03/venezuela.referendum/index.html)

Keep in mind that Chavez is still in office till 2013...

[whottt]

Keep in mind he just tried to get himself elected King.


That kind of hunger isn't going to be sated by an election result...


Stay tuned.

[xrayzebra]

Has anyone heard the "fat lady" sing yet. What I am saying it
aint over till is the fat lady sings. And believe me she hasn't.

[Wild Cobra]

Has anyone heard the "fat lady" sing yet. What I am saying it
aint over till is the fat lady sings. And believe me she hasn't.
I think you're right. To get that close to winning, the election had to have several rigged stations.

[xrayzebra]

And so here is Chavez answer to the vote:



USA TODAY


Despite defeat, Chávez's vision 'still alive'


By Brian Winter, USA TODAY
Hugo Chávez showed no sign Monday of giving up his quest to become president for life, vowing that his plans to make Venezuela a socialist economy are "still alive" despite unexpected defeat at the ballot box.

Opposition leaders said they expected Chávez to seek another way to remain in power beyond the end of his term in 2013, even though a slim majority of Venezuelans voted Sunday not to remove presidential term limits. They said that outcome may force Chávez to deal with growing public anger over food shortages resulting from his policies, although he was unlikely to tone down his anti-Washington rhetoric or reach out to his opponents.

"If this was anybody but Hugo Chávez, and if this was a civilized government, you'd expect them to give up after a result like this," said Teodoro Petkoff, editor of Tal Cual, an opposition newspaper in Caracas. "But Chávez isn't like that. He seeks conflict, lives for conflict. He'll still try to get what he wants."

Chávez conceded defeat in a TV address overnight but promptly vowed he would "not withdraw even one comma" of his reform proposals, which would shorten the workday to six hours, make it easier for the state to seize private property and allow the president to suspend press freedoms and other rights in times of emergency.

The defeat was Chávez's first electoral setback since he was elected in 1998, but the former paratrooper remains popular, and Venezuela's deeply divided opposition lacks a clear leader to challenge him.

Tal Cual highlighted the difficulties ahead for the anti-Chávez movement by publishing a political cartoon Monday that showed two thirsty men trudging through a barren desert. "We have so far to go, my friend, so far to go," read the caption.

Still, the election result could strengthen the opposition and boost a political movement by Caracas university students who were among the most vocal demonstrators against the referendum, Tom Shannon, the Bush administration's top diplomat for Latin America said in an interview.

"It appears that Chávez has found the limits of Venezuelan democracy, how far they're prepared to go," Shannon said.

Buoyed by record prices for Venezuela's oil, Chávez has spent billions of dollars on health and education programs aimed at helping the country's poor. However, Chávez's strict controls on prices and exchange rates has led to shortages of staples like sugar, pasta and milk in supermarkets.

Venezuelans have supported Chávez in past elections but are now angry because of the shortages, said Boris Segura, an economist for Morgan Stanley investment bank in New York.

"Bill Clinton was right — 'It's the economy, stupid,' " Segura said.

Other analysts were less certain. "President Chávez lost an important battle but hardly the war," warned Alberto Ramos of Goldman Sachs investment bank.

The defeat could dissuade Chávez's leftist allies in Latin America, particularly in Ecuador and Bolivia, from attempting similar constitutional overhauls. A study this fall by Latinobarometro, a Chilean pollster, showed that Chávez's influence around the region has waned and he is now no more popular in the region than President Bush.

Chávez now must deal with the fallout from his unusually combative behavior in the days prior to the vote, when he vowed to cut off ties with neighboring Colombia, with which Venezuela has $6 billion in bilateral trade. Chávez also said the CIA was trying to sabotage the election and accused CNN of plotting his murder after it mistakenly ran a caption under his photo that read "Who killed him?"

Asked if a chastened Chávez might soften his stance toward Washington, Shannon said: "We'll wait and see. We have made it clear over time we want a better relationship with Venezuela. We would like to see that, no matter what."

Contributing: Wire reports


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