Venezuela's president warns opposition may sabotage referendum
Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez affirmed on Saturday that the country's opposition had split over a recall referendum against him and that some opponents may seek to carry out acts of sabotage.

Chavez told the press here that he invited the opposition to collect the necessary signatures to call a recall referendum against him "instead of thinking of placing bombs or cheating."

It is dangerous for the opposition to be "very divided," with a sector them attempting to oust him through a coup, he warned.

The president, who signed necessary documents Saturday for a revocation referendum against opposition legislators, considered likely, difficult though, that the opposition could gather the needed-by-law at least 2.4 million signatures for a referendum against him.

Chavez reminded that in the 1998 and 2000 elections a total of 2.5 million voters did not back his candidacy while 3.5 million others did.

Chavez's supporters Friday started collecting signatures for staging a revocation referendum against 38 opposition representatives in the parliament.

Chavez welcomed the peaceful way in which his supporters carried out the signature collection for the referendum against the opposition lawmakers.

The electoral authorities will examine the lists with the signatures and will decide on whether to authorize the organization of such a referendum that will be conducted in the second quarter of 2004 if approved.

Next weekend, the opposition may also try to collect signatures for holding a similar referendum against Chavez and 33 pro-government congressmen.

The government signature campaign, which began Friday and will end Monday, will test Chavez's popularity ahead of a four-day opposition signature drive to stage a referendum on the president's rule.

Venezuela's constitution allows recalls of legislators halfway from their mandate if at least 20 percent of the registered voters' signatures are collected for such purposes. Opponents also need to gather signatures of at least 20 percent voters to force a recall referendum against the president.

Chavez, elected in 1998 and reelected in 2000, Saturday joined the signature campaign in a square near the presidential palace in Caracas.

Cheered by supporters, Chavez added his signature to a government-backed petition for the referendum to recall oppositionde puties from the National Assembly.

 

OAS chief praises calm signature collection for Venezuelan president
he secretary-general of the Organization of American States (OAS), Cesar Gaviria, on Saturday expressed satisfaction with the ongoing peaceful signature collection in Venezuela in favor of President Hugo Chavez.

Praising the peaceful start of the campaign, Gaviria contrasted it with the violence that shook Venezuela during a brief coup, which briefly ousted Chavez last year, and a nationwide opposition strike in last December and January.

"I think the country has finally found the peaceful, electoral and constitutional solution that it needed to defuse the intense political tensions it has experienced," he told reporters here.

It is important that the people's will prevail "without any type of intimidation" and with the full cooperation of the Venezuelan authorities, he stressed.

Gaviria arrived here Saturday for a two-day surveillance of the signature collection process to call a revocation referendum against 38 opposition congressmen.

The OAS chief said he would give further comments once he meets with the officials of the National Electoral Council of Venezuela.

Meanwhile, other international observers also highlighted the civic attitude toward the signature collection.

After visiting different collection centers in the capital of Caracas, observers from countries like Spain and Ecuador said they were surprised at Venezuelans' active participation in the collection, and that the collection could serve as an example for efforts to cope with similar issues in other countries.

Diego Navarro from Spain said he felt "excited" by observing how the citizens, in a civic way, exercised their right for a participatory democracy.

Ecuadorian congressman Salvador Quispe said he was surprised by the "transparent, civic, and participatory form" of the signature collection.

The government signature campaign, which began Friday and will end Monday, will test Chavez's popularity ahead of a four-day opposition signature drive starting next Friday that aims to stage a referendum on the president's own rule.

Venezuela's constitution allows recalls of legislators halfway from their mandate if at least 20 percent of the registered voters' signatures are collected for such purpose. Opponents also need to gather signatures of at least 20 percent voters to force a recall referendum against the president.

More than 40 representatives from the OAS and the US Carter Center were invited to monitor the signature collection process over the weekend.

Chavez, elected in 1998 and reelected in 2000, Saturday joined the signature campaign in a square near the presidential palace in Caracas.

Cheered by followers, the left-wing leader added his signature to a government-backed petition for a referendum to recall 38 opposition deputies from the National Assembly, rallying his supporters a week before a rival referendum drive to vote him out of office.
 

Latin America adopts common strategy on aging
The countries of Latin America have agreed to adopt a common strategy on aging, another problem agitating the region besides the economic crisis, reports here Saturday quoted a communique of the United Nations Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (CEPAL) as saying.

Officials reached the agreement at the Regional Inter-Governmental Conference on Aging closed in Santiago on Friday.

The general goal of the strategy is to protect the human rights of the elders and to ensure economic security, social participation and education for them to satisfy their basic needs and help them fully participate in the society and the development process, CEPAL said.

The strategy also seeks to help the elder citizens have access to integral health services and better living conditions, as well as to maintain their functionality and autonomy.

Besides, the strategy aims to create an enjoyable physical, social and cultural environment for the elders to develop and exercise their rights and duties.

The strategy also intends to implement the International Action Plan of Madrid, agreed upon during the Second World Assembly on Aging held by the United Nations in 2002, said CEPAL in the communique.