Venezuelans Issue Challenge to President
Opponents of President Hugo Chavez launched an effort Wednesday to vote the leftist leader out of office, holding a huge march here in the capital and presenting more than 3 million signatures calling for a referendum on his rule.
But Chavez, speaking on a visit to Buenos Aires, immediately challenged the opposition initiative, saying the signatures were not valid. He said his opponents were crazy, irresponsible and used “tricks and fraud” to collect the signatures.
“This shows the opposition is still thinking about a coup,” Chavez told a news conference.
He said he believed it would be very difficult to hold a referendum this year.
Chavez’s criticism of the referendum initiative heralded renewed political feuding in Venezuela, which has been shaken for more than a year by conflict between Chavez and his foes.
Several hundred thousand opponents of the leader packed central Caracas on Wednesday.
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