Posted on 12/06/2007 2:15:44 AM PST by jsh3180
CARACAS -- A defiant President Hugo Chávez Wednesday repeatedly used a harsh expletive to describe his opponents' victory in a crucial vote Sunday, and suggested that if he had not conceded he might even have won.
Chávez's comments came as the president's supporters and foes traded bitter accusations over the vote, which narrowly defeated his proposals for radical changes to the Venezuelan constitution.
The vote's result, which had initially promised to restore faith in the country's much-maligned electoral system, is now the subject of dispute, with some on both sides suggesting that a fair count would have produced figures different from those published so far.
Chávez was seeking sweeping changes, which would -- among other things -- have allowed him to stand for reelection indefinitely, weakened protections for private property and established socialism as Venezuela's official ideology.
Claims by some in the opposition that the final tally was the result of a deal made under pressure from elements within the military provoked a furious attack on the opposition Wednesday during a joint news conference by Chávez and the high command.
``You should administer your victory properly, but already you are covering it in shit. It's a shitty victory, and our -- call it, defeat -- is one of courage, of valor, of dignity . . . We haven't moved a millimeter and we won't.''
Chávez used the expletive twice more during the conference.
Defense Minister Gen. Gustavo Rangel Briceño used the conference to flatly deny any deal to alter the vote's results in any way, and said, ``We are absolutely sure that this has been one of the cleanest processes.''
But Rangel spoke with scorn of his predecessor in the ministry, retried Gen. Raúl Isaías Baduel, who campaigned against Chávez's constitutional proposals.
Rangel called him a ''general without troops, a has-been'' who had violated the principles of friendship and loyalty in turning against Chávez.
According to unconfirmed claims by some members of the opposition, a crisis was averted Sunday because Baduel supporters in the key Maracay garrison warned of consequences if Chávez failed to recognize the opposition victory.
The latest official figures stand at 50.7 percent for no to the reforms and 49.3 percent for the yes vote. But some opposition members have been circulating the version that the no vote won by a much larger margin, but was reduced in hours-long negotiations Sunday to secure the victory for the no while allowing Chávez to claim that he lost by an insignificantly small margin.
In a lengthy report Tuesday in the newspaper El Nacional, journalist Hernán Lugo wrote that ''officers linked to . . . Baduel, convinced the president that it was unwise to prolong the agony'' of the vote count. Baduel has flatly denied that he was involved in any negotiation.
Chávez on Wednesday also denied any such military pressures on him to accept defeat, saying, ``The day a general, however much of a friend he may be, puts pressure on me, I'll sack him immediately.''
He called Lugo a ''journalist-for-hire'' and accused CNN anchors Patricia Janiot and Daniel Viotto of carrying out orders from the U.S. government aimed at undermining his revolution -- apparently for mentioning Lugo's report in their broadcasts.
Lugo also reported that Chávez was ''enraged'' when he realized he would lose the vote. Some media reports even had him wrecking furniture in the presidential palace. At Wednesday's news conference, Chávez's left hand was visibly cut and swollen.
Meanwhile, some sectors of the opposition claimed there's indirect evidence that a deal was negotiated late Sunday to give Chávez a smaller margin of defeat.
With just under 90 percent of the ballots counted, the National Electoral Council announced early Monday the no vote led by an ''irreversible'' 1.4 percent margin. Statisticians point out that only 127,000 votes separated the two sides at the time, with more than one million votes left to count.
''Mathematically, that's pretty hard to argue,'' said Edgar Elías Osuna, a specialist in statistics at the IESA business school in Caracas. ``I think it was an elegant way out. They already knew the result.''
Chávez has several times contradicted himself on the tally. On Wednesday, he suggested that he might have won had he insisted on every ballot being counted. ''I said they shouldn't finish counting the manual votes [most of the balloting was done on electronic voting machines] because I didn't want to win that way,'' he said.
Some opposition leaders have claimed the opposite is true. The opposition-linked electoral pressure group Súmate said it sampled 592 of more than 33,000 polling stations and projected a 54-45 victory for the no vote.
The more independent monitoring group Electoral Eye said however that its own sample of polling station returns gave figures much closer to the official result -- and well within the margin of error of its sample.
Stories of a deal are ''pure speculation,'' said Pedro Nikken, a former president of the Inter-American Human Rights Commission and member of the board of Electoral Eye.
``The result from our sample showed a close election, in which the no was ahead.''
Nikken pointed out that the results are available on the CNE website (www.cne.gob.ve) broken down to voting machines, and that the tally-sheets are in the possession of both sides.
Vicente Díaz, the only opposition member of the five-person electoral council, Tuesday stood by the official returns. ''There is no possibility whatsoever that the results are not those published by the CNE,'' Díaz told a news conference. ``Don't let them lie to us. Go to the [council's] Web site and check the results.''
Too funny.
Hugo Ego is funny from a distance, but tragic for the people of Venezuela. Hopefully his days are numbered as their dictator.
Gore's team is there??
There is an unconfirmed report of a man in a cheap suit taking off his sneakers in the Air Venezuela line and muttering that there better not be any judge named Sanderos Saulsia down there.
Hopefully, there’ll be a similar reaction from Sen Clinton next Nov.
Jimmy should go there to recount the vote. He SHOULD STAY in Venezuela until the american citizens are in full agreement that voting was legal and “el hijo de perra” actually lost the referendum.
Electoral Eye
Pedro Nikken
The Inter-American Human Rights Commission
I never heard of any of these people. They are all quoted authoritatively in this article, but I have no idea if they are legit.
In any case, Hugo lost. That is the important thing. Do you hear that, Hugo? You LOST!!! Neener-neener-neener!!!
He should bring along Algore and Elgore (the Mexican presidential loser) with him to help.
What a blow to Hillary’s concept.
King Juan Carlos ought to get a little credit for Hugo’s loss. He burst the balloon of the little tyrant’s ego and showed folks they can laugh at him, and defy him.
A true, communist pig...
Apparently Chavez doesn’t have as much power as one might think. Otherwise, he’d simply announce that he’s the winner.
________________________________________
Patience...
Yep, you might be surprised that another 200,000 votes can just pop in out of no where, with 90% of them voting yes. It happens with Democrats, I am surprised Chavez is cleaner than Democrats (or just not as experienced, more likely).
Maybe he can run on the ticket with Hillary?
Too bad, Hugo. Take it like a man. If it makes you feel better, I hate those interior dome lights in cars that don't go off right away.
This can’t be true. The Drive-By Media told me that Chavez accepted his loss graciously and with quiet dignity.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.