This article has been posted to DoctorZin’s New News Blog! 
Posted on 08/17/2004 5:47:16 AM PDT by OESY
...Sunday's vote is a metaphor for the sorry state of Venezuela's "democracy." Mr. Chavez controls the military, the Supreme Court, the Congress, the National Electoral Council (CNE), the state-owned oil monopoly and the intelligence services. There is no balance of power, no transparency, and Venezuela is fast becoming an authoritarian state.
Equally worrying is that when the oil-rich Mr. Chavez claimed victory, he claimed it for all of the Americas, reinforcing his commitment to spread revolution on the continent... eith Fidel Castro as his closest ally....
Mr. Chavez's claims of a "landslide" victory are not supported by independent evidence of how the voting was going. All day long Sunday, exit polls were reporting a 16 to 20 point margin in favor of removing the president... [with] the vote to remove Mr. Chavez at 59% in early exit polls.... [The Council] didn't allow an audit of the paper receipts issued by the touchscreen machines, or allow opposition representatives to be present during its tallying of the vote."
Venezuelan expats in the U.S. say they were turned away even though they had confirmed their registrations in advance. Some Venezuelans inside the country report that they had their polling stations reassigned hours away from their homes. The government expanded voter rolls by more than one and a half million people mainly in areas where Mr. Chavez is supported. The finger-print scanners that were supposed to ensure one-man, one-vote, malfunctioned, creating long lines.
Turnout appeared high but official tallies didn't reflect that fact. Perhaps most suspicious is that the government is claiming that fewer people voted to remove Mr. Chavez in this secret balloting than signed the referendum petition last fall. That one is hard to swallow since signing the petition exposed individuals to government sponsored harassment and job insecurity....
(Excerpt) Read more at online.wsj.com ...
It all looked like normal voting in a Democrat precinct to Jimmy Carter.
But Jimmy said it was fine. How can this be?
Preview of our elections if the Dems have their way. Rigged voting machines, eligible voters turned away, ineligible voters registered to support the 'proper' party, massive fraud, etc.
Is Carter the ultimate Socialist patsy or what?
You are 100% correct. Watch local papers for obituaries and tell your precinct chairmen to make sure none of the recently deceased people vote. When you catch people trying to vote under the name of a deceased person here, it is always A DEMOCRAT.
Kes karvouno!
Par tous ta sovraka!
Skistous san sardeles!
Kalo Taxidi!
Yes he is.
Chavez is friends with Castro.
Liberals love him.
Expect this in November. The Rats are signing up illegals and felons in FL and the druggies are being signed up by "Rock the Vote" and MTV. Democracy is mob rule.
?????
Wasn't he always? I'm surprised Clinton wasn't there with him.
True --- at this point we need to worry about our own country, they're bringing in the same type of voters and signing them up --- they will outnumber the rest of us in no time.
Jimmy does love them.
This will be coming to our shores--slowly but surely. Vote Democrat.
GREEK CURSES that are heard at the Olympics but they work for any contest as in Nov. elections.....
Yell them at the opposition....
Par tou ta sovraka! Take his underwear! In other words, strip the opponent, beat him, take everything you can from him.
Skistous san sardeles! Tear them apart like sardines!
Kalo Taxidi! Have a great trip! Yelled at opponents to warn them that they will soon lose and be out of the game. (Good one to yell at the Kerry/Edwards bus as it passes)
Kes Karvouno! You are running on coal not electricity!
He knows exactly what he is doing and the effect it will have.
The "patsies" are the ones who believe he is advancing "democracy" rather than the reality that he is advancing the socialist international.
Kind of reminds me of that saying: "If your vote counted they wouldn't let you do it". The first thing I thought of upon hearing that Chavez had finally allowed the recall election to go through was that he had a sure fire plan to steal it. ( This article does not even mention the voters who voted "yes" on the recall but got "no" confirmations on the printed slips, and then not allowed to vote again.)
Oh, and there will be the little matter of terrorists setting up shop in Venezuela.
'Thousands of people who oppose Chavez will mysteriously "disappear."'
And if they are not "disappeareds", they will be "deads".
There will be untold numbers of (even more) persons fleeing the country.
Venezuela is passing the "authoritarian" status and going into the "totalitarian" realm.
This is no 'benevolent" dictatorship. The next step may be increased purges of the mere reformers.
The bright spot is that those forced out by a leftist dictator become rabid right wingers here (Cubans, Nicaraguans, etc...)
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