BlogWood: MT Archives

Decision on recall delayed as Chavez vows to stay

Hugo Chavez may be the next target for American imperialists, but he’s not going down without a fight:

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez called U.S. President George W. Bush an "asshole" on Sunday for meddling, and vowed never to quit office like his Haitian counterpart as troops battled with opposition protesters demanding a recall referendum against him.

Chavez, who often says the U.S. is backing opposition efforts to topple his leftist government, accused Bush of heeding advice from "imperialist" aides to support a brief 2002 coup against him.

"He was an asshole to believe them," Chavez roared at a huge rally of supporters in Caracas.

The Venezuelan leader's comments came as fresh violence broke out on the streets of the capital, where National Guard troops clashed with opposition protesters pressing for a vote to end his five-year rule.

Military helicopters roared in low runs overhead as soldiers fired tear gas and plastic bullets to repel several hundred opposition demonstrators who threw stones and set up burning barricades in eastern Caracas late into the night.

Meanwhile, it looks like some of the signatures the opposition has collected may be a little , uh, funny...

Venezuela's National Electoral Council will likely announce March 25 whether a recall vote on President Hugo Chavez will proceed, almost two months behind schedule, El Nacional reported, citing agency officials.

Council Board Member Jorge Rodriguez said that the revision of questionable signatures will likely take place between March 18 and March 22. The council is expected to announce later today how many signatures need to be revised.

The council said yesterday it will set up 1,000 centers throughout the country where voters can come and verify their signatures. All petitions, in which similar handwriting appears, will need to be verified, Rodriguez said earlier. The opposition has said that many petitions bear the same handwriting as volunteers who helped signers fill in their names and identify numbers.

Venezuela's opposition submitted 3.4 million signatures in December to force a vote on Chavez. About 2.45 million signatures must be verified for the recall process to continue.