Venezuela opposition pushes for speedy recall

[pescao]

http://edition.cnn.com/2004/WORLD/americas/02/14/venezuela.protest

Venezuela opposition pushes for speedy recall

Sunday, February 15, 2004 Posted: 0328 GMT (11:28 AM HKT)

CARACAS, Venezuela (CNN) -- Tens of thousands of opponents of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez took to the streets of the capital Saturday to protest delays in the verification of their petitions for a recall election.

The protesters had planned to go to the National Elections Council headquarters in downtown Caracas, where hundreds of Chavez supporters have been camped all week, but stopped short of the building to avoid a confrontation and possible violence.

The council missed the Friday deadline it had set to validate the petitions, sparking the opposition's anger. It now promises to finish the count of the signatures, turned in more than two months ago, by February 29.

Chavez, whose term ends in 2006, contends many of the signatures on the opposition's petitions are fraudulent. He has indicated he could take his case to the Venezuelan Supreme Court, which could begin a lengthy legal battle.

...

[pescao]

1. Venezuela's opposition marches to protest delays in verification of signat

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/news/archive/2004/02/14/international1343EST0516.DTL

Venezuela's opposition marches to protest delays in verification of signatures for Chavez recall

CHRISTOPHER TOOTHAKER, Associated Press Writer

(02-14) 11:43 PST CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) --

Waving copies of voter signatures, hundreds of thousands of people took to the streets Saturday to protest delays in the verification of petitions for a recall referendum against President Hugo Chavez.

The protesters banged on drums, blew whistles and played anti-Chavez jingles on loudspeakers as they marched along several routes to a rallying point on a Caracas highway. Some held up signs with their signatures asking for a vote on Chavez in huge letters.

Several dozen Chavez sympathizers drove past in trucks, yelling, "Traitors!" at the protesters. The "Chavistas" held rallies of their own, blasting fireworks and chanting in defense of their president.

Caracas Fire Chief Rodolfo Briceno estimated that 400,000 people were taking part in the opposition marches.

...

not the tens of thousands CNN said, huh? i was told earlier that the Globovision news channel has just been caught broadcasting footage from last year´s demo to make today look much bigger than it really was - all will be revealled tomorrow on alo presidente!

[Judi Lynn]

2. They're getting desperate, aren't they?

I only saw this article this evening, but it's connected:

(snip)
Venezuela Seizes Illegal AK-47 Ammo Shipment from Miami

Friday, Feb 13, 2004 Print format
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By: David Cabrera, Martin Sanchez - Venezuelanalysis.com

Caracas, Venezuela. Feb. 13, 2004 (Venezuelanalysis.com).- An illegal shipment of about 50,000 7.62-caliber cartridges for AK-47 rifles was detected inside a container this Thursday by customs authorities at the Port of Maracaibo, on the western coast of Venezuela.

Sources, including local newspaper Panorama, quoted General Castor Lopez Leal, chief of the 3rd National Guard Regional Command, saying that the illegal cargo had been shipped from Miami. en. Perez added that only rifle cartridges had been found as of 7 p.m., Thursday, although he did not discard the possibility that weapons of war could be found in the container.
(snip)

Pamphlets calling for a military uprising were scattered trough the wealthy eastern section of Caracas, early today.

Pro-government political analysts argued that the ammunition seized in Maracaibo was to be used by the opposition in a possible coup d’etat against Chavez.
(snip)

http://www.venezuelanalysis.com/news.php?newsno=1192

Illegal weaponry from Miami. My, my, what a shock!



The Three Faces of Orlando Bosch, Cuban "exile" terrorist,
former prisoner in Venezuela, pardoned by George H. W. _Bush after bombing a Cuban airliner with 73 souls on board, including Guyanese students, and Cuba's Olympic Fencing Team.
His summary of the bombing: "There were no innocents on board that plane."

On edit:

I hope this recall fails, and fails spectacularly, with all the neccessary evidence presented concerning just how the opposition actually cheated wildly to try to get the advantage. Any group which would try to hijack the duly elected leader of a country is capable of anything.

If they lose, they'll simply try violence, AGAIN.

Everyone knows by now the _Bush administration has been deeply involved in this, and I pray there will be a way to expose their nasty manipulation of people and events.

[La_Serpiente]

3. Wow

BushCo must be really desperate for some of the black gold

[pescao]

4. they´re losing it all right

it´s kinda like that song - "send guns, money and lawyers!"
but maybe it shows chavez´ program for disarming the country is having an effect if they have to ship bullets inside bags of laundry detergent.

i´m really happy the opposition march tanked, they even had 6 starting points, the arrogance! but so weird CNN rewrote the AP´s piece (well just copied the 2nd half) and changed the number from 100s to 10s of thousands. what´s going on?

i also hope the "beautiful losers" fail miserably (with lots of juicy evidence of megafraud) but also in a strange way it would be satisfying to see them get their referendum and then lose it badly, which they surely would. and then they´d just have to shut up and wait for the next general election... yeah right!

some new stuff at http://www.thenewagenda.org/venezuela u might like, l8rz, pescao xxx

[Judi Lynn]

6. The interview with Greg Palast was excellent!

I have never had the chance to see him speaking, yet, having not seen "The Revolution Will Not Be Televised" yet, and was deeply interested in watching his personality light up his face, his presence shining through, and found he is a magnificent person.

He's a true leader if ever I saw one.

Very brave, too, by God, to have held together as he did while he was kidnapped, and probably was closer to being assassinated than anyone has admitted.

Thank you so much, pescao! Woof! You've done us such a favor.

[fearnobush]

5. would'nt be the first time a Big USA media Co. lied about

the freely elected Chavez. <http://www.gregpalast.com/detail.cfm?artid=169&row=2>