Miami Venezuelans Speak Out As Chavez Recall Approaches

[Judi Lynn]

Miami Venezuelans Speak Out As Chavez Recall Approaches
Illegal Resident: 'He Will Do Anything To Stay In Power'

POSTED: 5:42 pm EDT August 8, 2004
UPDATED: 6:01 pm EDT August 8, 2004

MIAMI -- The Venezuelan Consulate in Miami said thousands of Venezuelans have registered to vote in the recall election. But restrictions announced in late July in Caracas could prevent many from voting. Venezuelans who want to vote must prove they are legally living in the country where they are voting and have a Venezuelan identification card.
. . .

Venezuelans are deeply polarized between those who say President Hugo Chavez is trying to install a Fidel Castro-style dictatorship and those who argue he's the first president to provide opportunities for the country's poor.While many Venezuelans in South Florida are vocal in their opposition to Chavez, he is not without his supporters.

Small groups, dubbed Bolivarian Circles, in Florida and throughout the United States quietly back the president. The groups take their name from Simon Bolivar, the 19th century father of Venezuelan independence who transformed Spanish colonial outposts into independent states.

"The fact that few know of our existence does not mean that we do not exist. We are less boisterous than the anti-Chavez groups but we are organized," said Alexa Weber, a Venezuelan psychologist who runs the Bolivarian Circle in Fort Lauderdale, one of three in South Florida.
(snip/...)

http://www.nbc6.net/news/3630976/detail.html

[Judi Lynn]

1. Venezuela's Universal Published Bogus Poll by Chavez Opponents

Venezuela's Universal Published Bogus Poll by Chavez Opponents
Aug. 5 (Bloomberg) -- El Universal, Venezuela's largest national newspaper by circulation, said it mistakenly published a bogus poll provided by opponents of President Hugo Chavez that purported to show the leader would lose an Aug. 15 recall vote.

El Universal said in a front page notice that it received the poll from a person who claimed the tally had been compiled by Felix Seijas from polling firm Instituto Venezolano de Analisis de Datos. The poll showed that 50 percent of the respondents would vote to recall Chavez, compared with 44 percent who would vote for him to stay in office.

``We made a mistake,'' Editor Elides Rojas said in an interview. ``We usually don't call pollsters to verify surveys that are sent to us.'' Rojas said the poll was formulated by a university and sent to him by ``sympathizers'' of the country's opposition.

El Universal will publish a complete explanation tomorrow, he said. Other polls show a close race for the recall. Seijas was quoted in another article in El Universal as saying his firm, Instituto Venezolano, doesn't do polls for newspapers.
(snip/...)

http://quote.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=10000086&sid=a_48wJSAtC2E&refer=latin_america

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It's amusing to see "El Universal" pretending to not be completely connnected to the "opposition," of course. Do they think we're freepers, buying anything we're told?

[dawgman]

2. Yes please for God's sake don't provide opportunities for the poor or

socialize the national oil industry. It HAS to violate some sort of international law to use oil money to improve the lot of the poor. That money rightfully belongs in the hands of a very select and obscenely rich few exploiters where it can be used to create levels of personal luxury never before seen in this world. The poor don't deserve opportunities. If they did they wouldn't be poor. They have obviously done something wrong with their lives if they are poor.

(blech, I can't even stomach that in jest.)

[shrdlu]

3. I think we can count on our...

peace and democracy loving bushies to weigh-in big-time...Damn socialist wants to educate and provide health care with oil money that is rightfully ours.

[HysteryDiagnosis]

4. with oil money that is rightfully ours.

Shame... shame.