[Cincinatus' Wife]

Miami Herald Editorial: Staying on the constitutional course [Full Text] President Hugo Chávez has everything to gain by blocking, delaying and detracting from the constitutional process underway for his recall. That's why the international players monitoring the process must continue to insist that the intent of the law and Venezuelan voters be respected. Venezuela's National Electoral Council shouldn't be swayed by political pressure, nor should a legitimate recall petition be derailed by stalling tactics, threats or excessive technicalities.

Superheated rhetoric

Even before the verification process began, Mr. Chávez was denouncing ''megafraud'' and those involved in the petition drive as ''oligarchs'' and ''coup-plotters.'' He vowed to block the recall vote and seems to be taking every available opportunity to do so. On Sunday he repeated the accusations, charging that the opposition was using the recall petition -- outlined in the constitution that he virtually wrote himself -- as a ''mask'' for a new coup. He also threatened a military takeover of the Venevision and Globovision television stations and to challenge via the Supreme Court any decision against him by the electoral council. Such superheated rhetoric does nothing to inspire confidence in his intentions, the rule of law or a democratic solution to the political crisis that he continues to fan.

Opposition groups need 2.4 million signatures, or 20 percent of the electorate, to force a vote on Mr. Chávez's recall. The groups say they collected 3.4 million signatures, of which 265,000 may be invalid.

Now suddenly, election-officials are questioning the legitimacy of more than half of the signatures, when that rate had been 3 percent before, and reviewing again some 1 million signatures. At issue are petitions where someone other than the signers wrote in their names and identification numbers.

The Organization of American States and The Carter Center, which have been monitoring this process, rightly have called on the electoral council not to invalidate signatures on mere technicalities. ''The sovereign expression of the citizen must be privileged over excessive technicalities,'' the groups affirmed in a statement last week. The groups should also speak up should they spot any irregularities.

One candidate

Unfortunately the upshot will be more serious delays, which benefit Mr. Chávez. If he were to lose a recall vote after August, by law Mr. Chávez would be replaced by his appointed vice president -- and could remain powerful if not in power.

That's why the opposition needs to stay the constitutional course. The groups also need to unite their support under one opposition candidate. If, in fact, Venezuelans are fed up with their president and get to recall him before August, the opposition will be better positioned to defeat a Chavista candidate with one strong contender and a plan for reconciling Venezuelans and crafting a prosperous, democratic future. [End]

[marron]

This is the other side of the coin. If the opposition doesn't have a leader, or if they are not prepared to fight to keep him, Chavez will not be moved out of power.

I hate to bring it up, but they already overthrew him once, and the result was not a happy one. The Chavists were prepared to fight, and the opposition was not. If the Chavist officers are willing to rise up, and the opposition officers want to remain politically neutral... if the Chavist crowds are going to go out in the streets armed and the opposition crowds want peace, its over. As it was when Chavez was briefly arrested.

When Chavez took power in the beginning, he announced from the inauguration podium that the constitution was suspended, he announced that the Supreme Court and the Congress were disbanded, and like puppies they packed their things and went home. They were not prepared to fight to defend the constitutional order, and they lost it. If they are not prepared to fight to restore it, they are not going to get it back.