Venezuela Recall Petitions Rejected

The attempt by Hugo Chávez's opposition to arrange a recall has hit a snag:

Electoral authorities in Venezuela today rejected an opposition petition, signed by 3.2 million people, demanding a recall referendum on the rule of its leftist president, Hugo Chávez.

The decision by the five-member National Electoral Council, considered neutral in Venezuela's simmering political stalemate, was a serious blow to a broad antigovernment movement that had hoped to end Mr. Chávez's term with a recall later this year.

I'm not schooled in Venezuelan law, but their reasoning seems to be a bit peculiar:

The council voted 3-0 to reject the petition because the signatures were collected months before the Aug. 19 midpoint of Mr. Chávez's six-year term, a violation of electoral guidelines, said Francisco Carrasquero, the president of the council. Two of the council's members abstained from the vote.

Realistically what difference should that make? If the referendum was not able to be conducted before August 19, why can't the opposition start collecting the signatures anyway? On the other hand, as I have said time and again, if the opposition had focused more of their energy on the referendum instead of the divisive strikes earlier in the year, the rules and terms could have been codified earlier and the organization of the referendum could have been effected less hapahazardly.

This is one of those rare occasions when I have to agree with Chávez:

Washington's efforts to push for a referendum, though, have irked the Venezuelan government. After Charles Shapiro, the American ambassador, held talks with the electoral council on Sept. 3 and offered technical assistance, Mr. Chávez warned the United States to back off.

"This is a sovereign nation, ambassador, and you must respect this country," Mr. Chávez said on his radio show last Sunday.

Whether one supports Chávez or the opposition (I find Chávez appalingly demagogic and the opposition until recently arrogant and elitist), the last thing that needs to happen here is for this issue to be painted as a struggle between Chávez and Bush. No one wins in such a scenario.

Comments

[Miguel Octavio]

The reason the US Ambassador went to visit the CNE was that he wanted to offer help in providing internationla observers. This is the sore point. The Head of the "Tactical Commitee of the revolution" has said they don't want people coming to observe the refernedum:

http://blogs.salon.com/0001330/2003/09/19.html#a1038

because that would also be an interference. The truth is that if we ever get to a referendum, their weapon of last resort would be intimidation at the polls. Every step is a trick. Lost in the muddle of the regulations for the referendum is the fact that the list of those that sign the petition will be published. Imagine you are a Government worker. Would you sign with a threat of being fired?. Remember there are 1.5 million Government workers, 11 million voters....They have turned the petition into the election.

[Randy Paul]

Miguel,

You're probably right, although it would have been good if someone other than the US Ambassador had offered the observers. This would be a good job for the Carter Center. In any event it's clear that observers have to be there and if something happens like what happened in Panama with Noriega's "Dignity Battalions" then Chávez will have crossed his Rubicon.