Chavez undeterred by vote defeat

Originally From New America Media

Tuesday, December 4, 2007 : Venezuelans voted against Hugo Chávez, apparently agreeing with the king of Spain that it was time for the Venezuelan leader to “shut up.” There are a few more public figures that should do the same, writes the editor of the bilingual Latino newspaper Vida en el Valle.

With five carefully delivered words -- "¿Por qué no te callas?" (Why don't you shut up?) -- directed at Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez, King Juan Carlos of Spain set in motion a frenzy that ranged from the words popping up on ringtones to T-shirts emblazoned with words more commonly found on a schoolyard than at a summit of Latin American leaders.

The king had probably had too much of Chávez's comments and barbs that have left few opponents untouched. The Venezuelan leader has called former Mexican President Vicente Fox "Bush's lap dog" – and he has called Bush far worse things.

Chávez has finally gotten his comeuppance. On Dec. 2, voters in Venezuela rejected Chavez's request to change the country's constitution to give him greater powers and allow him to serve as president for life, apparently agreeing with the king of Spain that it was time for the Venezuelan leader to “shut up.”

Too bad King Juan Carlos is busy attending to royal-related business in Madrid. Otherwise we could use him in many other situations. After all, if used properly, his words would save all of us plenty of grief.

Here is our ranking of how we would use the king's English... er, Spanish... to keep others at bay.

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Tuesday, December 4, 2007 : President Hugo Chavez has accepted his first electoral defeat. This weekend, voters rejected constitutional changes that would have given Chavez added powers and the opportunity to run for president indefinitely. Chavez said his acceptance of the outcome proves he's no dictator, but that this isn't the end of his effort to reform the constitution.

He says the reforms are necessary to further promote his socialist revolution.

Margarita Lopez Maya, professor of history at Central University of Venezuela, writes a political column for the newspaper Ultimas Noticias. Maya talks with Melissa Block.

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Tuesday, December 4, 2007 : A humbled Hugo Chavez has paid tribute to his opponents and conceded that the sweeping constitutional changes he had sought to accelerate his socialist revolution in Venezuela and enable him to seek re-election indefinitely had been narrowly defeated in Sunday's national referendum.

"I thank you and congratulate you," President Chavez told his opponents after the results were announced after hours of delay at almost 2am yesterday. Electoral officials confirmed that the referendum had gone down by 51 per cent against 49 per cent. Mr Chavez also called for calm.

It was a stunning reversal for the usually cocksure leader who has never been defeated at the polls since first coming to power in 1999. The former military officer with a fiercely anti-US tongue underestimated resistance to his proposed amendments, which would have removed all limits on his ability to stand for re-election, allowed him to suspend civil liberties in times of emergency, seize private property and significantly expand his grip in the regions. Opposition leaders warned of an impending socialist dictatorship.

In the first hours after the closing of polling stations, three government ministers predicted victory, citing exit polls. But as the evening wore on without any appearance by Mr Chavez on the balcony of the Miraflores, the presidential palace, it became apparent that something had gone awry. When the loss was confirmed, opposition supporters poured on to the streets honking horns and beating drums.

For the US, the largest foreign purchaser of Venezuelan oil, the outcome was sweet relief. "We felt that this referendum would make Chavez president for life, and that's not ever a welcome development," said the US under-secretary of state, Nicholas Burns. "In a country that wants to be a democracy, the people spoke, and the people spoke for democracy and against unlimited power."

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