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Three Venezuelan Ministers Say Chavez Wins Vote (the fix is in)
Reuters ^ | August 16, 2004 | Reuters

Posted on 08/15/2004 11:36:40 PM PDT by Rastus

CARACAS, Venezuela (Reuters) - Three Venezuelan government ministers, who did not want to be identified, said on Monday that President Hugo Chavez had easily survived a referendum on whether to recall him.


TOPICS: Breaking News; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: hugochavez; venzuela
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Wonderful. Hopefully, this will prove false, but it seems unlikely.
1 posted on 08/15/2004 11:36:40 PM PDT by Rastus
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To: Rastus

And, that's all there was to the story when I posted it. No details yet.


2 posted on 08/15/2004 11:37:03 PM PDT by Rastus (Forget it, Moby! I'm voting for Bush!)
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To: Rastus

Earlier tonight I heard it was an anti-Chavez landslide. Who knows?


3 posted on 08/15/2004 11:38:19 PM PDT by inkling
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To: inkling
The story has been fleshed out at the link above:
CARACAS, Venezuela (Reuters) - Three Venezuelan government ministers said on Monday that President Hugo Chavez had easily survived a referendum on whether to recall him but the comments conflicted with opposition hints that they had won.

"We've won this by a long way," one of three cabinet members, who did not want to be identified, said as they hugged and celebrated at the Miraflores presidential palace in scenes witnessed by Reuters.

The other two ministers made similar claims.

Shortly earlier, senior opposition leaders had dropped heavy hints of victory.

Venezuelan law prohibits anyone from announcing electoral results until the country's election authorities do so.

"From the expression on my face, people can tell what's happening," said a smug-looking Enrique Mendoza, a leader of the opposition coalition which forced Sunday's referendum on the populist president.

Another opposition leader, former state oil company executive Juan Fernandez, said: "We're going to have fireworks and music .... we're going to say Venezuela woke up on the day of the referendum."
4 posted on 08/15/2004 11:39:30 PM PDT by Rastus (Forget it, Moby! I'm voting for Bush!)
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To: Rastus
Chavez supporters did the counting after all.

Now comes the violence as Chevez tries to destroy his opponents. Look for TV stations and newspapers to be nationalized just before the bloodletting goes wholesale.

5 posted on 08/15/2004 11:42:00 PM PDT by GeronL (Viking Kitties have won the GOLD MEDAL in the 2,000 meter ZOTTING)
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To: Rastus

Remember this is Reuters.


6 posted on 08/15/2004 11:42:31 PM PDT by Dane (Trial lawyers are the tapeworms to wealth creating society)
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To: Rastus
The left-leaning Brit paper, The Independent (http://news.independent.co.uk/world/americas/story.jsp?story=551867) posted this contrary story earlier...

Venezuela's Chavez on brink of referendum defeat

By Hannah Baldock

16 August 2004

The Venezuelan President, Hugo Chavez, looked to be losing his grip on power last night as exit polls showed him to be trailing the opposition by almost a million votes.

The figures were early indications that, for the first time in the country's history, the President may have his term in office cut short by a referendum.

The mid-morning results showed that the opposition, already boasting an enormous 1,758,000 votes to Chavez's 798,000, is well on its way to reaching the target of 3.76 million votes it needs to oust the authoritarian, left-wing President. Turn-out for the referendum was high, with millions of Venezuelans queuing from the early hours at polling stations all over the oil-rich country to decide the political fate of the firebrand Mr Chavez.

The Venezuelan people are tensely awaiting a close-run and disputed result. In the capital, Caracas, government vans equipped with speakers drove through the poor residential districts in the east of the city at 5am, playing a military wake-up call before piping out popular pro-Chavez songs to voters, some of whom had in any case been up all night letting off fireworks, anticipating victory.

"Our commandante has already won," said Eric Caldera, a student queuing to vote against Mr Chavez's recall. "The rich people and TV stations are the only ones who say the opposition is going to win. They want to regain the power and privilege they had before, and loot the country. You can count the rich people on your hand, the poor you can't. They are too many. And they are with Chavez."

A clamorous cluster of opposition voters in Parroquia El Recreo voting station, central Caracas, rejected the pro-Chavez voters' arguments against them. "If Chavez wins we will paint the walls with 'No Future'. As no one will have a future, not us nor our children. We don't want a Cuba here," added Elsie Billar, 54, an accountant.

If, as looked likely last night, Mr Chavez loses, Vice-President Jose Rangel will take over until general elections are held in a month's time.

7 posted on 08/15/2004 11:43:33 PM PDT by inkling
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To: Rastus

Chavez wouldn't dare cheat with Jimmeh lookin' on.


8 posted on 08/15/2004 11:46:48 PM PDT by dasboot (<img src="XXX">)
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To: dasboot

Yeah, and bears hold it in the woods. ;)

"You should have gone before we left the cave!"


9 posted on 08/15/2004 11:47:59 PM PDT by Rastus (Forget it, Moby! I'm voting for Bush!)
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To: dasboot
Chavez wouldn't dare cheat with Jimmeh lookin' on.

Good point.Carter might give Chavez a stern look or a disappointed head shake. We can rest easy tonight that Jimmah's on the case!

10 posted on 08/15/2004 11:48:51 PM PDT by inkling
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To: inkling
If, as looked likely last night, Mr Chavez loses, Vice-President Jose Rangel will take over until general elections are held in a month's time.

Then the Vice President will simply void the election results and declare Chavez Maximum President-For-Life. After all, these ARE socialists.

11 posted on 08/15/2004 11:49:24 PM PDT by asgardshill (The Republican's best weapon lies midway between John Kerry's nose and lower chin.)
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To: Rastus

I've got a really bad feeling on this one. Even if Chavez loses, we all know there are plans to fix the vote. There is no way that the leftists are going to leave power without a lot of bloodshed.


12 posted on 08/15/2004 11:57:53 PM PDT by gsrinok
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To: dasboot
Chavez wouldn't dare cheat with Jimmeh lookin' on.

Or to put it another way, Chavez wouldn't dare be honest with the naiive Peanut Farmer doing the counting.

13 posted on 08/15/2004 11:58:53 PM PDT by steveegg (John F'em Ke(rr)y - I was for the war in Iraq before I was against it before I was for it..)
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To: inkling
We can rest easy tonight that Jimmah's on the case!

Then why am I still up and FReeping?

14 posted on 08/15/2004 11:59:34 PM PDT by steveegg (John F'em Ke(rr)y - I was for the war in Iraq before I was against it before I was for it..)
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To: Rastus

Call Jimmy Carterrrrrrr

I bet he and his buddy Michael Moore know who won.

lol


15 posted on 08/16/2004 12:03:27 AM PDT by KQQL
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To: Rastus
Three Venezuelan government ministers said on Monday that President Hugo Chavez had easily survived a referendum on whether to recall him ....

"We've won this by a long way," one of three cabinet members, who did not want to be identified, said as they hugged and celebrated at the Miraflores presidential palace in scenes witnessed by Reuters....

Venezuelan law prohibits anyone from announcing electoral results until the country's election authorities do so.

I'm shocked, shocked that a lefty would violate the law.

16 posted on 08/16/2004 12:22:35 AM PDT by steveegg (John F'em Ke(rr)y - I was for the war in Iraq before I was against it before I was for it..)
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To: Rastus

Looks like the DNC has been helping count the votes.


17 posted on 08/16/2004 6:52:55 AM PDT by Blood of Tyrants (Even if the government took all your earnings, you wouldn't be, in its eyes, a slave.)
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To: Rastus

I was reading Spanish-language papers late last night saying that they were extending the voting for a second day (today), because there were so many people trying to get to the polls. I'm not sure this is over yet.


18 posted on 08/16/2004 8:20:54 AM PDT by Choose Ye This Day (Kerry: a strange man with nothing to say about anything that has happened since the early 1970s.)
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To: Rastus

As seen on another post (http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1192332/posts)

Venezuela's Chavez May Overcome Recall Vote on Sunday (Update3)
by Alex Kennedy

Aug. 13 (Bloomberg) -- Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez gained support in opinion polls ahead of a weekend recall vote, prompting some investors to bet he will survive the referendum as he did a military coup in 2002 and an oil strike last year....``Our victory is simply inevitable,'' Chavez said during a press conference in Caracas yesterday.

"Nothing can stop it...' (Excerpt)


19 posted on 08/16/2004 8:31:02 AM PDT by sully777 (Our descendants will be enslaved by political expediency and expenditure)
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To: Rastus

Chavez Declares Recall Victory; Foes Claim Fraud

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1192514/posts


20 posted on 08/16/2004 8:37:52 AM PDT by NormsRevenge (Semper Fi .. Proud member of the FR Special Ops manuremovers crew .. moving manure&opinion since '96)
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