Roberto Jorquera
Thousands of Venezuelans gathered outside the Miraflores presidential palace on August 16 to hear radical left-wing President Hugo Chavez claim victory soon after the National Electoral College (CNE) released the results of a presidential recall referendum.
Earlier that day, CNE head Francisco Carrasquero read off the results, saying that the No vote, against the recall of Chavez, had gathered 58.25% of the vote and that the Yes vote, in favour of Chavez's recall, had gathered only 41.75% of the vote.
These where the official results after 94.49% of the votes had been counted. The remaining votes had been cast in areas without automatic counting machines. All of these were in working-class neighbourhoods and rural areas. Considering that the overwhelming majority of these votes will go to Chavez, it is expected that the No vote will increase to over 60%.
Addressing the assembled crowd outside Miraflores, Chavez called on the US-backed, right-wing opposition to accept the results and help in continuing to develop the social programs of Chavez's "Bolivarian Revolution".
However, one of the opposition leaders, Enrique Mendoza, later claimed that a massive fraud had been committed and that according to the opposition's figures the vote was 60/40 in its favour. It was later discovered that this was based on exit polls that the opposition had commissioned in the wealthy suburbs of Caracas.
All the international observers, including those from the US State Department, have accepted the figures presented by the CNE.
Chavez told the August 16 rally that the referendum result was a "victory of the people of Venezuela and a victory of the Bolivarian constitution".
"Venezuela has changed for ever, there's no going back to the past", Chavez added.
The web based news service Venezuelanalysis.com reported that Chavez called on the US government, which has provided millions of dollars in funding to the opposition, to respect the will of the Venezuelan people.
The recall referendum, the first to ever take place in Latin America, was undertaken in an atmosphere of intense scrutiny within Venezuela and by numerous representatives from international organisations and government representatives from around the world.
The enormous enthusiasm for the process among Venezuela's working-class masses was seen throughout the day. People started to gather outside the polling booths from 4am on August 15. Many had to wait in the hot sun for up to 10 hours to vote. Others waited patently in line until 1.30am on the morning of August 16 to cast their vote. The long wait was due to the large voter turnout and the extra 2.5 million voters who had registered to vote.
The organisation of the referendum by the CNE, which is dominated by anti-Chavez members, had created problems in the working-class neighbourhoods where the number of polling booths was only one tenth of the number that some of the wealthy neighbourhoods had.
Though polling was due to finish by 6pm on August 15, the CNE was forced to extend the time to 8pm and then until midnight. At that time, the CNE announced that no-one would be stopped from voting, resulting in some people not casting a ballot until 1.30am.
There can now be no doubt of the popularity of the "Bolivarian Revolution" that is unfolding in Venezuela. The people of Venezuela will be able to continue the social, economic and political transformation that has occurred since Chavez was elected president in 1998.
From Â鶹´«Ã½ Weekly, August 25, 2004.
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