Venezuelan gov't rejects early polls
CARACAS, Venezuela - Venezuela's government on Monday rejected a proposal to cut short the rule of President Hugo Chavez and delivered a fresh blow to the opposition campaign for early elections in the world's No. 5 oil exporter.
Opposition leaders, who said they collected about four million signatures petitioning for a constitutional amendment to shorten Chavez's term, accused the government of stalling talks to end the bitter dispute over his rule.
Vice President Jose Vicente Rangel said the government dismissed the opposition initiative and proposed instead a binding referendum after August on the president's rule.
"We're proposing what we always have: referendum after Aug. 19 as laid down in the constitution," Rangel told reporters.
The amendment campaign marked a shift in strategy for opponents of Chavez after they scaled back a two-month strike that battered Venezuela's economy but failed to unseat him. State oil workers at the heart of the strike have vowed to keep up their stoppage to press for a vote.
The fresh row signaled more political wrangling between the government and opposition, who have been locked in a standoff since April when Chavez survived a short-lived military coup.
Both the constitutional amendment and a binding Aug. 19 referendum were put forward as options by former U.S. president and Nobel Peace prize winner Jimmy Carter, who is part of international efforts to broker an electoral deal.
In a statement Rangel said the government could not set a date for a referendum and also rejected Carter's proposal urging no reprisals for striking oil workers. Chavez has fired more than 5,000 oil employees, accusing them of sabotage, and refused an amnesty.
"This response takes us further away from the Carter proposal, especially about any election date. The government just isn't interested," anti-Chavez union boss and opposition negotiator Manuel Cova told Reuters.
A six-nation initiative led by the United States and Brazil has also lent its weight to the talks led by the Organization of American States to hammer out an agreement on elections.
The opposition strike, started on Dec. 2, triggered a fiscal crisis, forcing the Chavez government to slash its budget and prepare exchange rate controls to shore up its oil-reliant economy.
Faced with bankruptcy, many businesses buckled and reopened even before the strikers decided to ease off the shutdown. Private banks resumed normal operating hours on Monday and shopping centers, universities and franchises are due to reopen later this week.
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