Read anything that Bush uses in his speeches from this man? Yes FEAR and puppet/pawns... Why do we continue to buy his oil? Our stock market might have less tension if we just dropped this mans oil supply. Or is that the major reason we continue to buy from him? Lets open our own oil fields.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071202/...4lt11gxLas0NUE

Chavez seeks sweeping changes in vote By IAN JAMES, Associated Press Writer
52 minutes ago



CARACAS, Venezuela - President Hugo Chavez would take on expanded powers and have a shot at being president for life under constitutional changes being considered by Venezuelans Sunday in a vote that raised tensions in South America's top oil exporter.

ADVERTISEMENT

An emboldened opposition and recent violent clashes involving protesters point to a potentially volatile dispute if the vote is close, as some pollsters predict.

Lines snaked outside many polling stations, and Information Minister Willian Lara said across the country there was "a massive turnout." Voters were awakened in Caracas by fireworks exploding in the pre-dawn sky and reveille blaring from speakers mounted on cruising trucks.

Chavez has warned opponents he will not tolerate attempts to stir up violence, and threatened to cut off oil exports to the U.S. if Washington interferes. His country is a major supplier to the United States, which in turn is the No. 1 buyer of Venezuelan oil.

Chavez, who has become Latin America's most outspoken antagonist of Washington since he was first elected in 1998, calls the constitutional overhaul vital to making Venezuela a socialist state. He labels those who resist it pawns of President Bush.

Venezuelans across the political spectrum saw the referendum as a turning point. Some Chavez opponents described it as a protest vote — and a point of no return.

"This is our last chance to change things," said Judith Padova, a 57-year-old housewife who lined up among about 300 voters in the Caracas neighborhood of Los Ruices.

While the Venezuelan government touts polls showing Chavez ahead, other surveys cited by the opposition indicate strong resistance — which would be a change for a leader who easily won re-election last year with 63 percent of the vote.

Pollster Luis Vicente Leon said tracking polls by his firm Datanalisis in the past week show the vote is too close to predict. Which side wins will depend largely on turnout among Chavez's supporters and opponents, he said.

Opposition leader Manuel Rosales, who lost to Chavez in the 2006 presidential race, urged voters to turn out in large numbers.

"Venezuela is in the middle of a great crossroads," Rosales said before casting his ballot in western Zulia state, where he is governor. His supporters chanted, "freedom, freedom!"

Before the vote, U.S. State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said Friday that the United States hopes the referendum will be "a free and fair contest."

Speaking to reporters Saturday, Chavez accused the U.S. government of plotting to discredit what he says will be a legitimate victory for him at the polls.

"They are preparing to disavow the results, so we hope the popular will is respected," Chavez said.

The socialist leader sought to capitalize on his personal popularity ahead of the vote. He is seen by many as a champion of the poor who has redistributed more oil wealth than any other leader in memory.

Opponents — including Roman Catholic leaders, press freedom groups, human rights groups and prominent business leaders — fear the reforms would grant Chavez unchecked power and threaten basic rights.

The changes would create new forms of communal property, extend presidential terms from six to seven years and let Chavez seek re-election. If Chavez were to lose, he would be barred from running for re-election in 2012.

The reforms would also grant Chavez control over the Central Bank, allow his government to detain citizens without charge during a state of emergency, and empower him to redraw the country's political map and handpick provincial and municipal leaders.

Many Chavez supporters say he needs more time in office to consolidate his brand of "21st century socialism," and they praise other proposed changes such as shortening the workday from eight hours to six, creating a social security fund for millions of informal laborers and promoting communal councils where residents decide how to spend government funds.

Tensions have surged in recent weeks as university students led protests and occasionally clashed with police and Chavista groups. One man was shot dead Monday while trying to get through a road blocked by protesters.

But Tibisay Lucena, chief of the National Electoral Council, called the vote "the calmest we've had in the last 10 years."

Some 140,000 soldiers and reservists were posted for the vote, the Defense Ministry said.

The opposition called for close monitoring of an outcome they predict will be close.

About 100 electoral observers from 39 countries in Latin America, Europe and the United States were on hand, plus hundreds of Venezuelan observers, the electoral council said. Absent were the Organization of American States and the European Union, which have monitored past votes.

Chavez, 53, says he will stay in power only as long as Venezuelans keep re-electing him — but has added that might be until 2050, when he would be 95 years old.

___

Associated Press writers Frank Bajak, Edison Lopez and Sandra Sierra
By IAN JAMES, Associated Press Writer
52 minutes ago



CARACAS, Venezuela - President Hugo Chavez would take on expanded powers and have a shot at being president for life under constitutional changes being considered by Venezuelans Sunday in a vote that raised tensions in South America's top oil exporter.

ADVERTISEMENT

An emboldened opposition and recent violent clashes involving protesters point to a potentially volatile dispute if the vote is close, as some pollsters predict.

Lines snaked outside many polling stations, and Information Minister Willian Lara said across the country there was "a massive turnout." Voters were awakened in Caracas by fireworks exploding in the pre-dawn sky and reveille blaring from speakers mounted on cruising trucks.

Chavez has warned opponents he will not tolerate attempts to stir up violence, and threatened to cut off oil exports to the U.S. if Washington interferes. His country is a major supplier to the United States, which in turn is the No. 1 buyer of Venezuelan oil.

Chavez, who has become Latin America's most outspoken antagonist of Washington since he was first elected in 1998, calls the constitutional overhaul vital to making Venezuela a socialist state. He labels those who resist it pawns of President Bush.

Venezuelans across the political spectrum saw the referendum as a turning point. Some Chavez opponents described it as a protest vote — and a point of no return.

"This is our last chance to change things," said Judith Padova, a 57-year-old housewife who lined up among about 300 voters in the Caracas neighborhood of Los Ruices.

While the Venezuelan government touts polls showing Chavez ahead, other surveys cited by the opposition indicate strong resistance — which would be a change for a leader who easily won re-election last year with 63 percent of the vote.

Pollster Luis Vicente Leon said tracking polls by his firm Datanalisis in the past week show the vote is too close to predict. Which side wins will depend largely on turnout among Chavez's supporters and opponents, he said.

Opposition leader Manuel Rosales, who lost to Chavez in the 2006 presidential race, urged voters to turn out in large numbers.

"Venezuela is in the middle of a great crossroads," Rosales said before casting his ballot in western Zulia state, where he is governor. His supporters chanted, "freedom, freedom!"

Before the vote, U.S. State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said Friday that the United States hopes the referendum will be "a free and fair contest."

Speaking to reporters Saturday, Chavez accused the U.S. government of plotting to discredit what he says will be a legitimate victory for him at the polls.

"They are preparing to disavow the results, so we hope the popular will is respected," Chavez said.

The socialist leader sought to capitalize on his personal popularity ahead of the vote. He is seen by many as a champion of the poor who has redistributed more oil wealth than any other leader in memory.

Opponents — including Roman Catholic leaders, press freedom groups, human rights groups and prominent business leaders — fear the reforms would grant Chavez unchecked power and threaten basic rights.

The changes would create new forms of communal property, extend presidential terms from six to seven years and let Chavez seek re-election. If Chavez were to lose, he would be barred from running for re-election in 2012.

The reforms would also grant Chavez control over the Central Bank, allow his government to detain citizens without charge during a state of emergency, and empower him to redraw the country's political map and handpick provincial and municipal leaders.

Many Chavez supporters say he needs more time in office to consolidate his brand of "21st century socialism," and they praise other proposed changes such as shortening the workday from eight hours to six, creating a social security fund for millions of informal laborers and promoting communal councils where residents decide how to spend government funds.

Tensions have surged in recent weeks as university students led protests and occasionally clashed with police and Chavista groups. One man was shot dead Monday while trying to get through a road blocked by protesters.

But Tibisay Lucena, chief of the National Electoral Council, called the vote "the calmest we've had in the last 10 years."

Some 140,000 soldiers and reservists were posted for the vote, the Defense Ministry said.

The opposition called for close monitoring of an outcome they predict will be close.

About 100 electoral observers from 39 countries in Latin America, Europe and the United States were on hand, plus hundreds of Venezuelan observers, the electoral council said. Absent were the Organization of American States and the European Union, which have monitored past votes.

Chavez, 53, says he will stay in power only as long as Venezuelans keep re-electing him — but has added that might be until 2050, when he would be 95 years old.

___

Associated Press writers Frank Bajak, Edison Lopez and Sandra Sierra

__________________
Yea can't keep the words of your great leader.

Prophet Muhammad - “Do you love your creator? Love your fellow-beings first.”

I'm sorry, but if you think George Bush is a bigger dictator than Chavez, you are insane. Please provide some sources to your beliefs.

A la página de VenezuelaPress.com nos han llegado los siguientes resultados:

NO: 6.534.648

SI: 5.864.560

Dif: 670.088 (5,4%)


(Excerpt) Read more at venezuelapress.com ...


The commie pig appears to have lossed. WAHOOO GOD BLESS FREEDOM. Please be before signt for America in 2008 when HITERLY LOSSES.

__________________
"We're going to take things away from you on behalf of the common good." Hillary Clinton, June 2004.


"If we desire to avoid insult, we must be able to repel it; if we desire to secure peace, one of the most powerful instruments of our rising prosperity; it must be known, that we are at all times ready for war" -- George Washington, Fifth Annual Address to Congress, December 13, 1793

53-47 “no”.

__________________
"We're going to take things away from you on behalf of the common good." Hillary Clinton, June 2004.


"If we desire to avoid insult, we must be able to repel it; if we desire to secure peace, one of the most powerful instruments of our rising prosperity; it must be known, that we are at all times ready for war" -- George Washington, Fifth Annual Address to Congress, December 13, 1793

FROM CARACAS!

Monday, December 03, 2007
Hell No!...it’s OFFICIAL!

Quico says: Venezuela rejects authoriarianism. It’s a historic day. The myth of Chávez the invincible is no more.

NO 50.7%
SÍ 49.3%

__________________
"We're going to take things away from you on behalf of the common good." Hillary Clinton, June 2004.


"If we desire to avoid insult, we must be able to repel it; if we desire to secure peace, one of the most powerful instruments of our rising prosperity; it must be known, that we are at all times ready for war" -- George Washington, Fifth Annual Address to Congress, December 13, 1793

Chavez conceded defeat!

“Venezuelans have rejected President Hugo Chavez’s bid to win new powers and run for re-election for decades to come in an unprecedented defeat that could slow his socialist revolution in the OPEC nation.

In a fiercely contested referendum on Sunday, voters said “No” to reforms that would have scrapped term limits on Chavez’s rule, given him control over foreign currency reserves and boosted his powers to expropriate private property.

Chavez conceded defeat shortly after election officials said early on Monday that the “No” camp had about 51 percent of the vote and that the president scored only around 49 percent support.”

http://ca.today.reuters.com/news/new...RENDUM-COL.XML


My respect for this south American country has want up high. Finally these people see the writing on the wall and say HELL NO TO THIS THUG DICTATER. Wahoo. Can we do the same in 2008?

__________________
"We're going to take things away from you on behalf of the common good." Hillary Clinton, June 2004.


"If we desire to avoid insult, we must be able to repel it; if we desire to secure peace, one of the most powerful instruments of our rising prosperity; it must be known, that we are at all times ready for war" -- George Washington, Fifth Annual Address to Congress, December 13, 1793

Great work... I am glad this man has been shot down from being dictator. Also this may lower american oil prices.

"Lets open our own oil fields."

tell that to an environmetalist. it will never happen. there will never be government run oil fields of any really significat size in america. there are to many people in america that wont let it happen.

thank God that man is no longer in power.

Hummm we agree partially on something. Get Bush out and put in someone that would do a job for the people of American.
As for your wish on news reports. I hope this one makes your day, it is from Yahoo News......

Chavez loses constitutional vote By FRANK BAJAK, Associated Press Writer
1 hour, 51 minutes ago

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071203/...yYhS3W07is0NUE

CARACAS, Venezuela - Humbled by his first electoral defeat ever, President Hugo Chavez said Monday he may have been too ambitious in asking voters to let him stand indefinitely for re-election and endorse a huge leap to a socialist state.

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"I understand and accept that the proposal I made was quite profound and intense," he said after voters narrowly rejected the sweeping constitutional reforms by 51 percent to 49 percent.

Opposition activists were ecstatic as the results were announced shortly after midnight — with 88 percent of the vote counted, the trend was declared irreversible by elections council chief Tibisay Lucena.

Some shed tears. Others began chanting: "And now he's going away!"

Without the overhaul, Chavez will be barred from running again in 2012.

Foes of the reform effort — including Roman Catholic leaders, media freedom groups, human rights groups and prominent business leaders — said it would have granted Chavez unchecked power and imperiled basic rights.

Chavez told reporters at the presidential palace that the outcome of Sunday's balloting had taught him that "Venezuelan democracy is maturing." His respect for the verdict, he asserted, proves he is a true democratic leader.

"From this moment on, let's be calm," he proposed, asking for no more street violence like the clashes that marred pre-vote protests. "There is no dictatorship here."

The White House took note of Chavez's setback.

"We congratulate the people of Venezuela on their election and their continued desire to live in freedom and democracy," National Security Council spokesman Gordon Johndroe said.

U.S. Undersecretary of State Nicholas Burns also said it was a victory for the country's citizens who want to prevent Chavez from having unchecked power.

"We felt that this referendum would make Chavez president for life, and that's not ever a welcome development," Burns told reporters in Singapore. "In a country that wants to be a democracy, the people spoke, and the people spoke for democracy and against unlimited power."

Chavez, who was briefly ousted in a failed 2002 coup, blamed the loss on low turnout among the very supporters who re-elected him a year ago with 63 percent of the vote.

Seven in 10 eligible voters cast ballots then. This time it was just 56 percent.

The defeated reform package would have created new types of communal property, let Chavez handpick local leaders under a redrawn political map and suspended civil liberties during extended states of emergency.

Other changes would have shortened the workday from eight hours to six, created a social security fund for millions of informal laborers and promoted communal councils where residents decide how to spend government funds.

Nelly Hernandez, a 37-year-old street vendor, cried as she wandered outside the presidential palace early Monday amid broken beer bottles as government workers took apart a stage mounted earlier for a victory fete.

"It's difficult to accept this, but Chavez has not abandoned us, he'll still be there for us," she said between sobs.

A close ally of Cuba's Fidel Castro, Chavez has redistributed more oil wealth than past Venezuelan leaders, and also has aided Latin American allies — including Bolivia, Ecuador and Nicaragua — that have followed Venezuela's turn to the left.

"He is a man who feels for the people, a man who has suffered, a man who comes from below," Carlos Orlando Vega, a 47-year-old carpenter's assistant, said outside a polling station in a Caracas slum on Sunday.

Vega is among tens of thousands of Venezuelans who, under Chavez, have new government-provided homes.

Chavez urged calm and restraint after his Sunday setback.

"I wouldn't have wanted that Pyrrhic victory," he said, suggesting a small margin wouldn't have been enough of a mandate.

Tensions surged in the weeks ahead of Sunday's vote, with university students leading protests and occasionally clashing with police and Chavista groups.

Chavez had warned opponents against inciting violence before the vote, and threatened to cut off oil exports to the United States if the Bush administration interfered.

Chavez, 53, also suffered some high-profile defections by political allies, including former defense minister Gen. Raul Baduel.

Early Monday, Baduel reminded fellow Venezuelans that Chavez still wields special decree powers thanks to a pliant National Assembly packed with his supporters.

"These results can't be recognized as a victory," Baduel told reporters,

Baduel, who as defense minister helped Chavez turn back the 2002 putsch, said Venezuela can only be properly united by convening a popularly elected assembly to rewrite its constitution.

Chavez has progressively steamrolled a fractured opposition since he was first elected in 1998, and his allies now control most elected posts.

At opposition headquarters in an affluent east Caracas district, jubilant Chavez foes sang the national anthem.

"This reform was about democracy or totalitarian socialism, and democracy won," said opposition leader Leopoldo Lopez said.

"At least now we have the guarantee that Chavez will leave power," said Valeria Aguirre, a 22-year-old student who had braved tear gas during street protests.

Lucena, the electoral agency chief, called the vote "the calmest we've had in the last 10 years."

All was reported calm during Sunday's voting but 45 people were detained, most for committing ballot-related crimes like "destroying electoral materials," said Gen. Jesus Gonzalez, chief of a military command overseeing security.

___

Associated Press writers Ian James, Edison Lopez, Fabiola Sanchez, Jorge Rueda, Christopher Toothaker and Sandra Sierra contributed to this report.

__________________
Yea can't keep the words of your great leader.

Prophet Muhammad - “Do you love your creator? Love your fellow-beings first.”