Venezuela Poll Shows Chavez Would Lose Vote, Nacional Reports

June 20 (<a href=quote.bloomberg.com>Bloomberg) -- Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez would lose a referendum on his presidency by 38 percentage points if a vote were held today, El Nacional reported, citing a poll by Consultores 21.

The May 17-27 poll of 1,500 Venezuelans found that 66 percent would vote for Chavez to leave office, while 28 percent would cast ballots for him to stay. Eight percent were undecided. No margin of error was given.

A similar poll in April showed that Chavez would lose by 18 percentage points.

Venezuela's opposition plans to seek a binding referendum on Chavez's presidency after Aug. 19 when the former paratrooper passes the halfway point of his term in office. Negotiations over holding the vote continue.

(EN 6/20 A5) (To see El Nacional's Web site, click on {NCNL })