Opposition claims 3.7 million signatures support a constitutional amendment

www.vheadline.com Posted: Thursday, February 20, 2003 By: Robert Rudnicki

According to figures provided by Sumate, the company hired to process the opposition petition held on February 2, over 3.7 million signatures were collected on the day across the country in support of a constitutional amendment that would shorten President Hugo Chavez Frias' term in office to four years, allowing an early revocatory referendum on his mandate.

Sumate claims a 1.3 million Venezuelans called for revocatory referendums on several National Assembly deputies, with Tachira State's Julio Garcia, Cilia Flores, Tarek William Saab, Iris Valera and Luis Tascon.

• 3.6 million signatures called for further help from the international community and 2.8 million backed striking Petroleos de Venezuela (PDVSA) workers.

In total 27 million signatures were collected, with many Venezuelans signing many different options. However, the figures have not been audited completely and none of the signatures have been validated or checked for repeats.