Venezuela's government says it won't obstruct referendum on Chavez's rule

STEPHEN IXER, <a href=www.sfgate.com>Associated Press Writer Tuesday, April 22, 2003
(04-22) 18:24 PDT CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) --

President Hugo Chavez vowed to defeat his opponents at the ballot box Tuesday as his government promised not to block a referendum on his rule.

"We are going to make them bite the dust of defeat," Chavez told a crowd of his supporters.

Such a referendum is expected following mediation by the Organization of American States between the government and opposition.

Vice President Jose Vicente Rangel said the government will not put obstacles in the way of the recall referendum proposal presented during the OAS talks.

"There should be no doubt about the government's willingness" to allow the referendum, Jose Vicente Rangel said in a statement.

Venezuela's constitution allows citizens to petition for a referendum on whether a president should step down. The vote can take place after the midpoint of a president's six-year-term -- August, in Chavez's case -- if petitioners gather signatures from at least 2.5 million registered voters.

The OAS talks were meant to bring stability to Venezuela, deeply polarized over continued rule by Chavez, a former paratroop commander who was elected in 1998 and re-elected in 2000. He survived a two-day coup in April 2002 and then a recent two-month general strike to demand his resignation or early elections.

In another development in Chavez's government, Planning Minister Felipe Perez resigned, and Jorge Giordani was appointed in his place, the president told Union Radio.

The business community is likely to protest the appointment of Giordani, who was planning minister under Chavez from 1999-2002. Chavez had sacked Giordani after a failed April 2002 coup in an attempt to appease business leaders unhappy with leftist policies they blamed for driving the economy into recession.