VENEZUELA:
Chávez's Victory to Revitalise His 'Social Revolution'

Alejandro Kirk


CARACAS, (IPS) - The stamp of approval that Venezuela's recall referendum won Monday from the Organisation of American States (OAS) and the Carter Centre will help pave the way for a new stage of President Hugo Chávez's "social revolution".

In his first speech early Monday, the president announced that Venezuela would move forward with determination towards overcoming the economic and social injustices inherited from neo-liberal free-market policies of the past, and towards national reconciliation.

The partial results of Sunday's referendum announced by election authorities showed that nearly 59 percent of voters were opposed to removing Chávez from office, giving the president renewed legitimacy.
 

His supporters will now have revitalised strength in parliament to push through reforms to overhaul the court system, establish a national police force (instead of the current fragmented municipal and state police forces), and pass a law holding the media to standards of social responsibility.

Chávez also said he proposed to give permanent institutional form to his government's successful social programmes in the areas of education, health, and economic and social development, which were initially put into effect as stop-gap measures aimed at filling the vacuum left by the ineffective Venezuelan state apparatus.

Chávez's social measures in this oil-rich country where a large proportion of the population is poor have included an adult literacy drive, job training and microcredit programmes for the poor, and campaigns that have brought health care, including dental coverage, to slum neighbourhoods.

OAS Secretary-General César Gaviria and former U.S. president Jimmy Carter (1977-1981), the heads of the international election observer teams, urged the opposition to accept the preliminary results announced by the National Electoral Council (CNE), according to which just over 41 percent of voters chose the "Yes" option in favour of removing Chávez.

Gaviria and Carter said "Our findings coincided with the partial returns announced today" by the CNE.

The joint statement issued by Gaviria and Carter in a press conference surprised the opposition, who had previously seen them as allies, and triggered furious reactions and insults from a spontaneous demonstration outside the hotel where the two election observer missions are staying.

In a major strategy shift, even prior to the observers' announcement, the main opposition party, Democratic Action (AD), said it would merely engage in political and legal action to combat what its leaders described as a "gigantic fraud".

In an unusual reaction for those who considered themselves the true winners cheated out of their legitimate victory, AD leader Henry Ramos said that instead of protesting the "fraud", the opposition would dedicate Monday to gathering the documents to take legal action this week.

"Give us a little time to think," Ramos told the bewildered opposition journalists.

AD thus marked a difference from other opposition groups and leaders, who have repeatedly called for a coup d'etat and the use of violence to put an end to the Chávez administration, such as one of the historic AD figures, Carlos Andrés Pérez, who served as president of Venezuela from 1974 to 1979, and from 1989 until he was removed from office in 1993 for corruption.

Chávez, meanwhile, said his victory in this "mid-term exam" halfway through his six-year term set a "world record" in terms of "participatory democracy."

"This government guarantees stability for Venezuela like no other government could guarantee," said Chávez.

He added that Venezuela also guarantees stability of the global oil market for the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC).

In a message to the United States, he said "I hope this victory, this lesson in democracy, citizenship, civic spirit and love of peace allows the government of the most powerful nation on earth to rethink things, and to respect the Venezuelan people from this day on."

A U.S. State Department spokesman reiterated complete confidence in the observers mission headed by Carter, whose verdict, he said, would form the basis for the U.S. government's position towards the referendum.

Carter and Gaviria said all of Venezuela should accept the CNE's results, unless tangible evidence of fraud is presented. They underlined, however, that they had seen no elements of fraud whatsoever.

Carter said the tally by the opposition electoral group Súmate coincided with the returns announced by the election authorities and the findings of the international election monitors.

He also said he had expressed his position in private to the leaders of the Democratic Coordinator opposition alliance as well as the owners of the privately owned national media.

In a news briefing, Súmate confirmed that its results tallied with the partial official returns which clearly pointed to a Chávez victory. But it expressed doubts about the voting procedure itself, based on an electronic thumbprint identification and touch screen system operated by a U.S.-based company.

Súmate spokespersons urged the international observers to take charge of the paper receipts, to make sure they reflected the electronic results -- a demand that has little chance of prospering.

But Gaviria ruled out any possibility of fraud in the electronic system, saying it was designed in such a way as to make the manipulation of the final outcome impossible.

He also noted that the data transmission was in the hands of by the private telecoms company CANTV, whose executives openly support the opposition.

Chávez declared Monday a holiday after a nearly 24-hour election process in which people stood in line outside polling stations for up to 15 hours Sunday.

After the calm of Monday morning, the streets of Caracas gradually began to fill up with people, most of them celebrating Chávez's victory, and others complaining bitterly about Carter and Gaviria.