AFP and AP. 16 January 20023. Chavez says he would respect outcome of August referendum, but earlier vote would be unconstitutional; Venezuela not on brink of civil war: Chavez.
UNITED NATIONS, BRUSSELS and LIBSON -- Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez said Thursday he would respect the outcome of an August referendum and leave office if he loses, but that any attempt to hold an earlier vote would be unconstitutional. "Replacing a president is not like taking off a baseball pitcher ... or changing one's shirt," he said. "It's a little more complicated than that. But the procedure exists and is established in the constitution." Chavez clutched a blue, pocket-sized copy of the Venezuelan constitution, which he said he was obliged to defend, as he spoke to reporters after meeting U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan. "Today is Jan. 16 and I think it's virtually impossible for there to be a referendum in Venezuela on Feb. 2. I think the desperate people on the opposition have tried to go outside the regular course of action," he said. Venezuela's constitution allows citizens to petition for a binding referendum halfway through a six-year presidential term -- in Chavez's case, in mid-August. Chavez on Thursday called on his opponents to be "patient and calm." "In August if there is a referendum and I lose I will leave. I have no intention to stay if the people don't want me," he said. "I will go. I'm not stubborn," Chavez said. "And that's what I told Kofi Annan," said Chavez, adding: "You don't exchange a democratic regime because of blackmail and terror." Chavez welcomed the creation on Wednesday of the "friends" group, comprising the United States, Brazil, Mexico, Chile, Spain and Portugal. Chavez suggested the "friends" group be widened to include countries such as Russia, France and China, and Algeria, which like Venezuela is a member of the oil exporters' cartel OPEC. "Yesterday the creation of the group was announced, but what we have created is still in its embryonic stage and it must grow. The group should be expanded and that's what I told the (U.N.) Secretary General," Chavez said. "I'm sure that once it's set up, this group can help Venezuela." Annan "reiterated his concern ... and emphasized the need to take further steps in accordance with the Constitution and respect for democratic principles, justice and human rights," his spokesman said. Meanwhile, a group of Venezuelan lawmakers who back Chavez said Thursday that it was their hope that the group would remain neutral. "Any solution ... will have to abide by the Constitution," social issues committee chairman Filinto Duran said in Brussels. He said that proposals such as the US State Department's idea of holding snap elections before any term considered in the Constitution would not be acceptable. In related events, Chavez said his country is not on the brink of a civil war even as a crippling general strike aimed at forcing his ouster enters its seventh week, in an interview published Thursday in a Portuguese weekly. "The vast majority of the people in this country, those who support the government as well as those who support the opposition or are disconnected from either side, do not desire a confrontation," he told the news weekly Visao. "(For a civil war to occur) there needs above all to exist a desire for a conflict of that size and I, who know the Venezuelan people, am certain that the desire for a civil war does not exist here," he added. Chavez again rejected demands for an early vote and has vowed to continue his revolution. "I believe revolution is the only road to solve the very serious problems that Venezuela and the underdeveloped world face," he said. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ProletarianNews http://www.utopia2000.org -- Macdonald Stainsby, External Relations Co-ordinator, Douglas Students Union. ** In the contradiction lies the hope. --Bertholt Brecht. *** "`Order rules in Berlin.' You stupid lackeys! Your `order' is built on sand. Tomorrow the revolution will rear ahead once more and announce to your horror amid the brass of trumpets: `I was, I am, I always will be!'" -Rosa Luxemburg, 1918. _______________________________________________ Leninist-International mailing list [EMAIL PROTECTED] To change your options or unsubscribe go to: http://lists.econ.utah.edu/mailman/listinfo/leninist-international
