Roberto Jorquera
Venezuela's National Electoral Council (CNE) announced on June 4 that opponents of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez had managed to collect enough valid signatures to demand a recall referendum for the presidency.
Martin Sanchez from news website Venezuela Analysis, <http://venezuelaanalysis.org>, stated that: "A signature re-verification or 'repair' process, in which those who signed against the president but whose signatures had irregularities were required to confirm or exclude their signatures, ended on May 31.
"Out of 1.2 million signatures that could have been repaired, the opposition managed to re-confirm only 614,968. A further 74,112 people excluded their signatures, giving credibility to reports of people's signatures being used without their consent to demand the recall. In order to demand a recall referendum, the opposition needed the support of 2,436,083 voters, which represents 20% of the registered electorate. The total number of valid signatures collected, according to the CNE, is 2,451,821, which represents 15,738 signatures above the required number.
"The CNE also announced that nine opposition lawmakers are subject to recall referenda. Wilfredo Febres, Cesar Perez Vivas, Isabel Calderon, Carlos Berritzbeitia, Luis Longart, Salomon Centeno, Conrado Perez Brice¤o and Rafael Marin will join Chavez in the recall referendum."
The process that took place over the weekend of May 30-31 was carefully scrutinized by hundreds of international observers. One of those was former US President Jimmy Carter who met with Chavez.
According to Granma International, "during his stay in Venezuela, [Carter] confirmed in different signature confirmation centers the transparency that has characterized the process. Carter has also been in contact with representatives of the opposition coordinating committee and the pro-government forces united under the Comando Ayacucho."
Despite the final result, Commando Ayacucho claimed victory. The organisation argued, "the process ended successfully, and the recall referenda process is one of the progressive pieces of legislation proposed by pro-Chavez sectors when the constitution was redrafted in 1999". Thousands of fake ID cards were confiscated and ID forging centres were discovered during the checking process.
Sanchez reported, 11After collecting little over 2.4 million valid signatures in four days, to recall Chavez, the opposition will need 1.35 million more votes to surpass the 3.75 million Chavez obtained in the last election. They also will need to surpass the number of votes of those who want Chavez to stay, all in one day instead of four."
Chavez supporters are confident that Chavez will win the recall referendum that is due to be held in late July or early August. Many believe that this vote will further consolidate the Bolivarian revolutionary process that is underway in Venezuela.
From Green Left Weekly, June 9, 2004.
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