On tuesday the 2nd, the CNE reported that 1.8m of the oppositions signatures cannot be verified. There's an article on AFP, but Vheadline reported it many hours before. This means that by the official constitutional rule, a recall referendum is not mandatory. The CNE may still decide to request a referendum. The CNE is also giving a small window for several of the signature writers to come in to verify their identity.
http://asia.news.yahoo.com/040303/afp/040303002527 int.html

As predicted, the right (as well as some inscrutable sectors of the left) is protesting in the streets, demanding that a recall occur regardless of the signature count, and to attempt to bring some stability, the Chavez government may come to a compromise with the opposition. At issue here is a general state of lawlessness, created for the most part by the right, although the Chavez government is not blameless in this regard. Throughout Latin America there is a tradition of impunity for perpetrators of crimes, be they of a personal or political nature. Case in point: no major players in the 2002 coup have served any time in prison. It is perhaps for this reason that I saw a group of Admirals in the CTV headquarters trying to squirm away from my camera when the group I was working with got to meet the Coordinadora Democratica's decision makers. Carmona, the dictator for a day, is living in Bogotá, perhaps waiting for Chavez's ouster to return triumphantly to Venezuela. By failing to enforce a rule of law for those that ignore the constitution and human rights, the Chavez government has failed to weaken the opposition. Not prosecuting the coup participants is a strategy, as has the Chavez's lax interactions with the libelous Venezuelan corporate media. Libel is not a light matter, as I'm sure Al can attest, narconews was the victim of a SLAPP-like libel suit when Al printed the story of citicorp's misdeeds and those of one of it's subsidiaries. However, my own experience watching Venezuelan corporate news media reached lows that are the stuff of Rupert Murdoch's wildest fantasies. I'm no fan of restrictive policies, and I admit that my own injury at the hands of authorities in the United States makes me extremely wary of government's use of force during protests. That said, if a government is trying to address the ills of society in a meaningful way, impunity must be confronted in order to protect any gains made by the society. There's much more than Chavez at stake, especially considering the Bush regime's current stance on Latin American affairs. It's up to us, the independent media to keep a close eye on what happens in Venezuela over the coming months, and be ready to shout when wool is pulled over people's eyes by the mainstream media. But we all know that, since that's why we're here, right?