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People in Caracas checked their names on a list before casting their votes yesterday at a polling station. (daniel aguilar/Reuters) |
CARACAS - President Hugo Chávez yesterday lost his bid for sweeping new powers, as voters narrowly rejected a referendum that would have allowed him to run for reelection indefinitely.
The result, a stunning development in a country where the leader and his supporters control nearly all of the levers of power, was announced by the nation's electoral authority early today.
It was the first major electoral defeat in the nine years of his presidency. Voters rejected the 69 proposed amendments 51 to 49 percent.
The political opposition erupted into celebration, shooting fireworks and honking car horns, when officials revealed the results at 1:20 a.m. The nation had remained on edge since polls closed yesterday afternoon and the wait for results began.
Opposition leaders were ecstatic.
"Tonight, Venezuela has won," said Manuel Rosales, governor of Zulia State and the opposition's candidate in presidential elections last year.
Almost immediately after the results were broadcast on state television, Mr. Chávez conceded defeat, describing the results as a "photo finish."
"I congratulate my adversaries for this victory," he said. "For now, we could not do it."
The constitutional changes would have also allowed Chávez to control Venezuela's foreign currency reserves, ap point loyalists over regional elected officials, and censor the media if he declares an emergency.
In the weeks leading up to the vote, members of previously splintered opposition movements joined disillusioned supporters of the president in an attempt to defeat the proposals.
The defeat slows Chávez's Socialist-inspired transformation of Venezuela, once a staunch ally of the United States that has become a leading nemesis of the Bush administration's policies in the developing world. Under Chávez, Venezuela has taken the most profound leftward turn of any Latin American nation in decades.
Unlike past elections here, this time the government did not invite observers from the Organization of American States or the European Union, opening itself to potential claims of fraud.
The voting appeared to unfold largely without irregularities, though there were isolated reports of fraud and violence in parts of the country.
The referendum followed several weeks of street protests and frenetic campaigning over the 69 amendments to the Constitution proposed by Chávez and his supporters. It caps a year of bold moves by the president, who forged a single Socialist party among his followers, forced a television network critical of the government off the public airwaves, and nationalized oil, telephone and electricity companies.
In recent weeks, Chávez has adopted an increasingly confrontational tone with critics abroad, who have been multiplying even in friendly countries with moderate leftist governments like Brazil and Chile.
In the days before the referendum, Chávez recalled his ambassador from Colombia and threatened to nationalize the Venezuelan operations of Spanish banks after Spain's king told him to shut up during a meeting. Chávez said he would cut off oil exports to the United States in the event of US interference in the election yesterday.
The United States remains the largest buyer of Venezuela's oil, despite deteriorating political ties, but this long commercial relationship is starting to change as Chávez increases exports of oil to China and other countries while gradually selling off the oil refineries owned by Venezuela's government in the United States.
Venezuela's political opposition, normally divided among several small political parties, found common cause in calling for votes against the amendments. An increasingly defiant student movement also protested here and in other large interior cities against the proposed charter.
But Chávez, whose followers already control many powerful institutions - the National Assembly, the federal bureaucracy, the national oil company, the Supreme Court and all but a handful of state governments - relied on an unrivaled political machine to gather support for the measures.
"The whole proposal is marvelous," said Francis Veracierta, 52, a treasurer at a communal council here, one of thousands of local governing entities loyal to Chávez that he has created this year. After awakening to predawn fireworks, she said she got in line at 6 a.m. to vote at a school in Petare, an area of vast hillside slums here.
"The power is for us in the community," said Veracierta, wearing a red shirt, red cap and belt with Che Guevara's face on it. She said she credited Chávez's government for giving her a $3,800 loan to start a clothing business.
But turnout in some areas was unexpectedly low, particularly in poor districts that are traditional bastions of loyalty for Chávez. Some of his supporters expressed concern that if they voted against the measures they might be retaliated against.
There was no line in front of the voting center at the Cecilio Acosta school in Petare yesterday morning, as a few dozen people who had already voted milled about the street. Some volunteers working the voting machines sat idle, waiting for more voters to arrive. Other voting centers in Petare had lines outside, but they were less than half a block long.
"I'm impressed by the lack of voters; this was full last year," said Ninoska Gonzalez, 37, who sells cigarettes on the street. She described herself as a "Chávista" who voted for the president in last year's presidential elections, but said she voted yesterday against his proposed changes.
Confusion persisted over the amendments, with one major complaint among the president's supporters and critics that they had little time to study the proposals.
Some measures were warmly received even by critics, however, such as those prohibiting discrimination based on political beliefs and sexual orientation.
Material from Reuters was used in this report.
© Copyright 2007 Globe Newspaper Company.
