Several of those who handed in weapons Tuesday before dignitaries and journalists acknowledged that their neatly pressed camouflage garb was given to them for the ceremony, and that they normally dressed in civilian clothes. After the ceremony, authorities took the disarmed fighters to a social club equipped with a swimming pool and a soccer pitch in La Ceja, outside Medellin. The fighters are to spend the next three weeks there healing their scars and learning new jobs.
But an editorial in Medellin's main daily, El Colombiano, said three weeks was not enough time to ensure the fighters have fully renounced violence. "It is not prudent to sing victory already," the editorial said.***
Opposition leaders are hoping for a resounding victory. If they collect well over the threshold number of names, "the President will be a lame duck," says Henrique Salas Romer, an opposition presidential contender. But Chavez may not go easily even if a recall referendum were to win. The danger remains that his supporters and opponents alike could take to the streets -- and that Chavez could declare a state of emergency. Venezuela's political struggle is far from over.***