Funding shortfall may block Chavez vote

asia.cnn.com Sunday, January 12, 2003 Posted: 6:35 AM HKT (2235 GMT)

Colombian drivers waits in a long line to fill up at a gas station in Cucuta, located on the northeastern border with Venezuela.

CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) -- Lack of funding and disorganization in Venezuela's elections council could thwart opposition hopes to weaken Hugo Chavez's presidency in a referendum set for next month.

Chavez is opposed to holding the vote, arguing it's illegal, and the Chavez-dominated Congress has yet to authorize $22 million required for balloting.

Alfredo Avella, president of the National Elections Council, said Friday the vote may be postponed to "a later date that permits the viability of the process."

Venezuela's opposition launched a strike December 2 to pressure Chavez, who was elected in 1998 and re-elected two years later, to resign and call elections if he loses the nonbinding referendum on his rule.

Chavez insists Venezuela's constitution only permits recall referendum on his presidency halfway into his six-year term, or this August.

The strike has paralyzed the world's fifth largest oil exporter and caused fuel shortages while opponents stage daily street marches and urge tax evasion to force Chavez from office.

Chavez has refused to give in to opposition demands. He threatened Friday to deploy soldiers to seize control of food-production facilities to deal with domestic food shortages.

The former paratroop commander told troops to be ready "to militarily seize the food production plants." He asked state governors belonging to his political coalition to be ready to cooperate.

"This is an economic coup. They are trying to deny the people food, medicine and even water," Chavez told thousands of supporters in western Cojedes state. "They won't succeed."

The Venezuelan-American Chamber of Commerce repudiated the president's statements and told its members that seizures of food plants would be illegal.

The president also said he fired 1,000 workers from the state oil monopoly Petroleos de Venezuela S.A., or PDVSA. An estimated 30,000 of the company's 40,000 employees have joined the strike.

Thousands of anti-Chavez protesters fought through tear gas and gunfire from pro-Chavez street thugs on November 4 to deliver 2 million signatures to convoke the February 2 plebiscite. Venezuelan law requires at least 10 percent of its 12 million registered voters to call a referendum.

Opposition leaders say if they have to, they'll pay for the February referendum themselves. But many Venezuelans won't pay to vote during the nation's worst recession in decades.

"The politicians asking for money are the same ones who robbed the country, and they are responsible for the economic crisis. Why should I give them any money?" said Manuel Arteaga, 45, who sells cigarettes on the sidewalks of downtown Caracas.

Other potential delays include organizing 180,000 volunteers to monitor voting booths, printing 12 million ballots, and protecting voting centers and materials.

While citizens opposed to Chavez wait to go to the ballot, the South American nation of 24 million is gripped with unrest.

Police used tear gas Friday to prevent pro- and anti-Chavez protesters from clashing in Venezuela's Margarita Island. Several children inside a nearby daycare were hospitalized for asphyxiation, a local civil defense spokesman said.

Five people have died in protests since the strike began.

Negotiations to end the stalemate, led by Cesar Gaviria, secretary-general of the Organization of American States, have made little progress.

"There's no exit from this crisis without an agreement," Gaviria said after Friday's round of talks.

In Washington, the Bush administration was talking with OAS-member nations on ways to end the strike, White House spokesman Ari Fleischer said Friday.

"We remain deeply concerned about the deteriorating situation in Venezuela," Fleischer said. Asked about a possible U.S. role in a breakthrough, he said, "An electoral solution is the direction the United States sees."