Venezuela Voters Turn Out in Huge Numbers
 

Wow...can't say this wasnt a long-time coming....from Yahoo news.....

Venezuela Voters Turn Out in Huge Numbers

CARACAS, Venezuela - Summoned by bugle calls and firecrackers, millions of Venezuelans turned out in unprecedented numbers Sunday to vote on whether to force leftist President Hugo Chavez from office.

Lines snaked for blocks in upscale neighborhoods, where suspicion is high that the leftist leader plans a Cuba-style dictatorship, and in the slums, where support for his "revolution for the poor" is fervent. A seven-hour wait to vote was common.


The first-ever recall referendum for a president in Venezuela's history was aimed at putting a lid on years of often violent political unrest and came after a lengthy and complicated process of mass signings of petitions.


Election officials decided to keep polls open at least four hours longer than scheduled and assured voters that polling stations would be kept open until everyone in line cast their ballots.


Exit polls were banned. Results were not expected until several hours after polls close.


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


Venezuelans tend to love or hate Chavez, a 50-year-old former paratroop commander, with sentiment drawn along class lines. Activists from both sides urged voters to the polls, but they needed little pushing.


Lula Golding, a 54-year-old Chavez opponent, awoke to earsplitting fireworks in Caracas' trendy Chacao district at 3 a.m., then voted when polls opened three hours later.


"The hate that the president has sown among Venezuelans is unacceptable," said Golding, who accused Chavez of dividing the impoverished nation of 25 million people along class lines.


Across the capital in the La Pastora slum of brick shanties, thousands of Chavez supporters rose before dawn to "reveille" bugle calls from loudspeakers. Hours later, many were still calmly waiting to vote under a radiant Caribbean sun.


Miguel Rodriguez, a 41-year-old bus driver, helped the get-out-the-vote effort by transporting Chavez supporters to voting centers.


"Chavez is working hard to improve life for the impoverished, giving them opportunities that past governments never even considered," Rodriguez said.


Chavez has directed spending from government coffers, beefed up by huge oil revenues, to pay for literacy programs, scholarships and free medical care for Venezuela's majority poor. Thousands of Cuban doctors, dentists and nurses, sent by Chavez's friend Cuban President Fidel Castro (news - web sites), work in poor barrios across this South American nation.


He has often lashed out at the rich, even referring to them as "devils," and he has alienated the United States with his criticism of of Washington's economic and foreign policies.


At a polling station in the wealthy Palos Grandes district, one man urged voters who were waiting in line for hours to be patient, eliciting a burst of applause.


"Don't despair," shouted Pablo Ramirez. "You may be tired of waiting, but they are going to be tired of counting all your votes. We got as far a forcing the referendum, now we have to win it."


Uncertainty about the future of the world's fifth-largest oil exporter has contributed to record high oil prices, which have reached more than $46 a barrel.





The president of Venezuela's state-run oil company said Sunday the industry will enter a new period of stability and growth regardless of the vote's outcome, although he suggested that Chavez would win.

"For the oil industry, this event will contribute to stabilization," said Ali Rodriguez, the president of Petroleos de Venezuela S.A., or PDVSA. "At last our oil workers can work without the constant pressure of these (political) campaigns."

Jorge Rodriguez, a director of the elections council, said voter participation could reach a record high. Chavez called on the opposition to accept the results, and pledged that he would also do so.

"We are waiting calmly and are preparing mentally, and with a lot of joy, to accept the result, no matter what the result will be," Chavez said after casting his ballot in a poor Caracas neighborhood.

Venezuelans could either vote "no" to allow Chavez to serve out the remainder of his six-year term, which began in 2000, or "yes" to recall him. For Chavez to lose, more must vote against him than the nearly 3.8 million who voted for him in the 2000 presidential elections, and there must also be more "yes" votes than "no" votes.

If Chavez loses, he would immediately step down and Vice President Jose Vicente Rangel would take over until an election is held within 30 days. Chavez has said he plans to run in the new election if he is ousted in the referendum.

The referendum culminates a two-year drive to oust Chavez, which included a short-lived 2002 coup, a devastating two-month strike and political riots last March that claimed a dozen lives.

Chavez looks like he may pull this off. It's a huge defeat for Bush and the multinationals if he does. The man already survived the Bush-engineered coup. A few more hours, and we should know the outcome.

This is so exciting, I've been waiting for this for quite a while.

The whole Chavez-Castro connection is a little too scary for me...Funny note though...

Hundreds are lining up here in South Florida, and they could only find *1* person who was voting for Chavez to stay in power (But given most of Miami's conservative nature, this is not a clear winner).

~Alex

Sheer nonsense. It's mostly propaganda concocted by the Bush administration. Besides, whatever ties exist between Chavez and Castro, and there are some, they are hardly significant. What power does Castro really have since the Soviet Union fell?

The issue is the Bush-backed opposition's plan to privatize the oil industry, effectively placing it in the hands of U.S. and British interests.

President Chavez of Venezuela defeated the recall vote yesterday, 58-42. Massive numbers of voters took to the polls, and polling hours had to be extended to accommodate everyone.

While Chavez's decision seems pretty decisive, the opposition claims they won. Watch what happens now. Watch Jimmy Carter's group claim the referendum was stolen to cast doubt over the legitimacy of the Chavez government.

It seems pretty clear to me the Venezuelans are raising their middle finger pretty decisively at the U.S. The opposition has been violent and underhanded, and if they took over, there would doubtless be a civil war in Venezuela. Can't you just foresee the Marines landing on the Venezuelan shores to run interference?

Hopefully the election will be certified, Chavez will remain in power and the Venezuelans can live peacefully.

Can you imagine if it were found that China was funding a big part of Kerry's campaign? Yet, the U.S. unabashadly interferes in the internal politics of a sovereign country, even orchestrating the recall referendum, and hardly anyone here notices. I noticed yesterday the U.S. news outlets were reporting on the referendum and consistently referring to Chavez as "the left-wing president." Kudos to the Bushes for planting that little seed so that the American public thinks the guy is dangerous and needs to go.

http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.j...toryID=5988146

Carter: Observers Agree with Chavez Recall Results

CARACAS, Venezuela (Reuters) - Former U.S. President Jimmy Carter said on Monday international observers agreed that leftist President Hugo Chavez won an Aug. 15 recall referendum fairly despite opposition concerns over fraud in the vote.
Carter led a team of observers monitoring the referendum.

http://instagiber.net/smiliesdotcom/...nkai/flipa.gif

LOL - good thing Carter was there. Because of his reputation, no one will seriously question these votes and the people have spoken. Good for them!!!!!! :)

Saw that. Was going to update this thread if I hadn't gotten sidetracked on that other one. I'm glad Jimmy is doing the right thing this time.

Just saw this quote from Hugo Chavez:

"I don't believe in the dogmatic postulates of Marxist revolution. I don't accept that we are living in a period of proletarian revolutions. All that must be revised. Reality is telling us that every day. Are we aiming in Venezuela today for the abolition of private property or a classless society? I don't think so. But if I'm told that because of that reality you can't do anything to help the poor, the people who have made this country rich through their labour and never forget that some of it was slave labour, then I say 'We part company'. I will never accept that there can be no redistribution of wealth in society. Our upper classes don't even like paying taxes. That's one reason they hate me. We said 'You must pay your taxes'. I believe it's better to die in battle, rather than hold aloft a very revolutionary and very pure banner, and do nothing ... That position often strikes me as very convenient, a good excuse ... Try and make your revolution, go into combat, advance a little, even if it's only a millimetre, in the right direction, instead of dreaming about utopias."

'I don't believe in the dogmatic postulates of Marxist revolution. I don't accept that we are living in a period of proletarian revolutions. All that must be revised. Reality is telling us that every day. Are we aiming in Venezuela today for the abolition of private property or a classless society? I don't think so. But if I'm told that because of that reality you can't do anything to help the poor, the people who have made this country rich through their labour and never forget that some of it was slave labour, then I say 'We part company'. I will never accept that there can be no redistribution of wealth in society. Our upper classes don't even like paying taxes. That's one reason they hate me. We said 'You must pay your taxes'. I believe it's better to die in battle, rather than hold aloft a very revolutionary and very pure banner, and do nothing ... That position often strikes me as very convenient, a good excuse ... Try and make your revolution, go into combat, advance a little, even if it's only a millimetre, in the right direction, instead of dreaming about utopias.'

http://www.counterpunch.com

No power, but can we REALLY argue Chavez and Castro have only "some" ties? Chavez calls Castro his hero and buddy, heck a year ago 2 Miami radio station DJs on LIVE RADIO Prank called the Havana government pretending to be Chavez. They actually got to talk to Castro for 2 minutes before he figured out it was a prank!

BTW, Does Bush happen to arrange for the photo ops between them too? :wavey: C'mon,, Chavez is a communist...admit it and we can move on.

~Alex

I guess I simply don't care if he is a communist or if the right-wing nuts in Miami think so. ;) I am more interested in seeing what he will accomplish. So far he has worked to lift a lot of people from poverty and to educate poor children that never have had such a chance before in Venezuela. In addition, 1.2 million venezolano adults have been taught to read and write. Some 120,000 families have received property, something they would never have a chance to get otherwise.

If that be communism, then I like communism. While here in the US we are widening the gap between rich and poor, in Venezuela, Chavez is narrowing the gap, creating a healthy, vibrant middle class. I'm happy to see it. Venezuela has had so much wealth for so long while its people have been unable to benefit from it. Would you rather see the greedy multinationals be allowed to swoop in and take the oil to enrich themselves while leaving the Venezuelan people in poverty? Should we create a Saudi Arabia in South America?

For once, I am happy to see that a government, especially in Latin America, is doing something good for the people.