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| Caribbean-Latin America | ||
| US Official: Venezuela Referendum 'Fully Democratic' | ||
| 2009-02-18 | ||
The United States says Sunday's Venezuelan referendum ending term limits for elected officials took place in a "fully democratic" process. A U.S. State Department spokesman, Gordon Duguid, told reporters Tuesday there were some troubling reports of intimidation of opponents, but that for the most part, the electoral process was fully consistent with democratic practice.
The referendum allows Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez to seek re-election for a third term in 2012. It was his second bid to remove presidential term limits after voters rejected a similar proposal in 2007. Mr. Chavez says he needs more time to transform Venezuela into a socialist state. Critics say he is becoming a dictator. More than 16 million people were eligible to cast ballots in Sunday's referendum. Election officials say the turnout was 67 percent, or 11 million. Official results show that 54 percent supported the measure, while some 46 percent rejected it. The opposition says the president's use of state funds made the campaign unfair.
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| Posted by:Steve White |
| #11 Venezuela has been a mess for a very long time, typical of a country addicted to the oil tit. Hugo is merely the current manifestation of their swirl around the toilet bowl. I am sure the vote is authentic. They really are that stupid. |
| Posted by: remoteman 2009-02-18 13:29 |
| #10 Maybe Barry's getting ideas. He sure seems to like flying around on Air Force One... |
| Posted by: tu3031 2009-02-18 13:07 |
| #9 I was just a toddler when Carter was POTUS but the language and tone here sounds an awful lot like something his administration would have said. I weep for the future. |
| Posted by: eltoroverde 2009-02-18 12:56 |
| #8 TW, I do believe that the result could be legit. The people there, jsut enough of them, are on the Chavez "gravy train" and have been taught raered to believe that "the government" will give them everything they need, once it takes it from all those nasty rich capitalists who "stole" it from "the people". Combine that wiht the sycophants and others who benefit directly, and Venezuela may have hit a tipping point, from which they voted themselves into the abyss. Look at the US and the Obama voters who fooled themselves for an example of stupid people tilting an election. |
| Posted by: OldSpook 2009-02-18 11:24 |
| #7 Fully democratic in a stuffed ballot box sort of way. |
| Posted by: DarthVader 2009-02-18 10:10 |
| #6 US Official: Venezuela Referendum 'Fully Democratic' In a Chicago sort of way. State is studying it hard for implications and use here I'm sure. |
| Posted by: Procopius2k 2009-02-18 08:43 |
| #5 Chavez's media portrayal was no more fawning than was Obama's. |
| Posted by: ed 2009-02-18 08:41 |
| #4 Venezuela Referendum 'Fully Democratic' Sounds like something Jimmy Carter would say. |
| Posted by: JohnQC 2009-02-18 08:17 |
| #3 i.e. "Yup the people of Venezuela ARE that stupid" Y'all don't really believe that the announced vote counts reflect actual ballots placed in the ballot boxes? It's Chavez's people who are counting the votes, not some mythical, balanced, honest, publicly observed tally. The people of Venezuela may be that stupid, but we -- and they -- will never know. |
| Posted by: trailing wife 2009-02-18 08:17 |
| #2 Hugo was going to stay one way or another. It was always going to take a revolution to get rid of him. |
| Posted by: Spot 2009-02-18 08:07 |
| #1 i.e. "Yup the people of Venezuela ARE that stupid" |
| Posted by: OldSpook 2009-02-18 08:06 |