Poll: Venezuelans Would Vote Out Chavez

CARACAS, Venezuela - A poll has found that a majority of respondents would vote President Hugo Chavez out office, giving hope to those calling for a referendum on his rule.

The survey asked voters how they would vote in a referendum on Chavez rule, and 65 percent said they would vote for him to quit while 32 percent said he should stay in office, according to results released Tuesday by Greenberg Quinlan Rosner Research and Public Opinion Strategies.

The door-to-door poll, which was conducted by the two U.S. firms on behalf of Radio Caracas Television, questioned 1,000 adults nationwide between July 14-20. It had a margin of error of 3.1 percentage points.

The results come less than two weeks after a local poll found more than two-thirds of those surveyed would oust the embattled president. Both polls raised the hopes of opposition leaders trying to organize a recall referendum.

Venezuela's Constitution allows citizens to petition for a referendum halfway into a president's six-year-term. In the case of Chavez, that would be Aug. 19.

Opposition groups agreed Tuesday to unite their efforts to request the referendum on Chavez's rule and establish a mechanism to choose a single candidate for a future election.

Opponents of the president say his policies have harmed the economy and they accuse him of trying to eliminate checks on his power. Chavez counters that he is trying to free the country from a corrupt political system that ignored the needs of the country's impoverished majority.

Recall vote in Venezuela stalls - Chavez pokes fun at drive*** The referendum was the result of seven months of negotiations between the government and the opposition, brokered by the Organization of American States. Analysts say the vote is the last hope to push the South American nation out of the political crisis, which is expected to shrink the economy by at least 10 percent this year. But as the stalling continues, Chávez gains ground. He has tightened his grip on the National Assembly, the courts, the state oil company and the military as the opposition runs out of steam.

By law, the recall drive can begin Aug. 19, half way through Chávez's six-year term. But Chávez loyalists argue that the millions of signatures already collected in February are invalid: They were collected too soon. Chávez this week also insisted that only people who voted in the 2000 election can cast ballots for the referendum -- a key issue because it was widespread absenteeism three years ago that allowed Chávez to sweep into power.

The National Elections Council will eventually decide both matters, but the National Assembly, responsible for naming members of the council, has deadlocked on theboard's fifth member. Two of the members are pro-Chávez and the other two came from the opposition ranks. The supreme court has given the assembly a 10-day deadline, saying it will pick the fifth member if the legislature can't. The government insists that opposition leaders are deliberately creating controversy.***

Venezuelan doctors waving national flags march to protest against the Cuban doctors that are partaking in 'Inside the Barrio' program sponsored by President Hugo Chavez, in Caracas, Venezuela, on July 17, 2003. The Venezuelan Medical Federation says the Cubans are taking jobs needed by local physicians, 8,000 of whom are unemployed. The federation also has challenged the Cubans' training. (AP Photo/Fernando Llano)

Politics Plagues Cuban Medics Working in Venezuela*** CARACAS, Venezuela (Reuters) - In a simple clinic surrounded by rough brick homes, doctor Damaris Rodriguez treats patients in La Charneca, one of the poorest slums of the Venezuelan capital perched on garbage-strewn slopes. Residents of the crime-ridden Caracas "barrio" or neighborhood have not had a resident doctor for years. Now they have two, but both are Cubans, not Venezuelans.

As part of growing cooperation with socialist Cuba, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez is bringing in up to 1,000 Cuban doctors to provide health care for Caracas' slums. This has touched off a storm of criticism from political foes who accuse the leftist leader of dragging Venezuela, the world's No. 5 oil exporter, toward Cuban-style communism. ***

Cuban Educators Spark Political Storm in Venezuela *** "The teachings of the spelling book, which had 15 lessons, ended with a letter which read, 'Now you can read and write. Thank you, Fidel.' People would read it and weep. It was all a show."

…….. "Our Republican values are all about the birth of Latin America. ... We are reinforcing the elements of cooperation, solidarity and participation," said Ortayza, who was once head of the state security police under the Chavez administration.

But as in Cuba, the Venezuelan students will read at the end of the course a letter of thanks to Chavez.

Government officials say the most promising students in the program will be rewarded with land titles, scholarships, trips to Cuba and even a library with 25 classic books, including works by Chilean poet Pablo Neruda, Cuban Nicolas Guillen, Cuban liberation hero Jose Marti and American authors Ernest Hemingway and Jack London.

But the program has riled Venezuelan educators who see politics and not literacy behind the government initiative.

"Cuban has nothing to teach us about literacy programs," said teacher Leonardo Carvajal. "They are selling us worthless trinkets in exchange for 53,000 barrels of oil a day." ***

Hugo Chavez - Venezuela

Fidel Castro - Cuba

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