http://www.nytimes.com/2005/04/26/international/am

ericas/26venezuela.html

It is official.  As the campaign to influence Latin America in attempt to isolate Venezuela fails, the US government has acknowledged its financial support of Venezuela's opposition groups and plans to continue the destabilization in the runup to the 2006 election.

The gathering storm for the forth battle of the Bolivarian Revolution is noticeable.  The coup, the lockout, and the referendum have failed, but the U.S. continues with its anti-democratic agenda.  

I guess you could say what goes around comes around.

Remember the vague storyline of what happened from Sunday to today in the Bolivarian Republic?  You know, the people woke up early, stood in long lines to vote, Chavez was declared winner at 4 in the morning, then the opposition claimed fraud, though the international observers said everything was a-okay.

If you think that’s all that happened, you’ve missed, though more likely forgot something important.  

Everyone around the world who knew about the ongoing crisis in the Bolivarian Republic understood full well that this election was going to be a big event.  It would be one of a few events, along with the 2002 coup d’etat and the winter ‘02/’03 business lockout, that showed the conflict of Chávez’s term in the Fifth Republic.  Due to several inherencies of the ongoing events, the implications of this recall are a whole lot greater than merely tension over a national event.  The referendum has the potential for far-reaching effects.  

http://news.independent.co.uk/world/americas/story

.jsp?story=552287

In a marathon poll marked by high voter turnout, Venezuelans have ratified the mandate of President Hugo Chavez in a recall referendum that represents a monumental boost to his government and ablow to his domestic and foreign opponents.

Scattered protests erupted around Caracas yesterday as opposition leaders refused to accept results indicating Chavez won with 58 per cent of the vote, even after international observers endorsed the outcome.

A 62-year-old woman died and four others were wounded after a group of apparently pro-Chavez motorcyclists fired into a small opposition protest in a Caracas plaza, said Caracas Fire Chief Rodolfo Briceno. Opposition congressman Ernesto Alvarenga was among those hurt, Briceno said.

Ending hours of confusion, former American president Jimmy Carter, who helped monitor the referendum, endorsed the returns showing that the left-wing president had won the vote. "Our findings coincided with the partial returns announced today by the National Elections Council [CNE]," Mr Carter told a news conference, and urged Venezuelans to accept the result.

Reed, a Narco News graduate as far as I know, knows his journalism well.  No ommissions of inconvenient facts, yet no jumping to conclusions.  The opposition protests the vote, but it is in conflict with the opinion of the international observers.  The people who fired on the anti-Chavez rally are only apparently pro-Chavez activists.  

Quite disciplined yet open journalism.

http://dailytelegraph.news.com.au/story.jsp?sectio

nid=1274&storyid=1789430

THE US today declined to join international monitors in backing Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez's apparent victory in a recall election and called for a prompt, thorough and transparent probe into opposition claims of massive fraud.

While "noting" and praising the work of observers from former US president Jimmy Carter's Carter Centre and the Organisation of American States (OAS), the State Department said Washington was not yet ready to endorse a finding that Mr Chavez, a longtime US irritant, had prevailed in the vote.

Hmm.... looks like the situation has not completely simmered yet.  Whats in store for the near future?

Wow, it has indeed been an amazing 36 hours I must say.

36 hours ago, Venezuelans started getting out to the  polls, waiting in line to cast their votes.

The media struck out bigtime today.  Strike one was the April coup d'etat, strike two was the lockout, strike three is the recall referendum.

There needs to be a good documentary that gets into the mind of the opposition and their Commercial Media accomplists.  Perhaps a whole documentary on the media's role in the Venezuelan crisis, with the three case studies I've mentioned before.

How's that for an idea?

Chavez 58.3, Recall 41.7

I don't have much else to say other than the results were official.  VIVA CHAVEZ

The Venezuelan people triumphed today.

http://www.venezuelanalysis.com/news.php?newsno=13

39

Finally some authentic journalism to counterbalance the constant parroting of the anti-Chavez activists.

http://news.independent.co.uk/world/americas/story

.jsp?story=551867

I've been listening to live developments on this, suddenly this strikes me out of the blue.  Very suspicious.

"The Venezuelan President, Hugo Chavez, looked to be losing his grip on power last night as exit polls showed him to be trailing the opposition by almost a million votes.

The figures were early indications that, for the first time in the country's history, the President may have his term in office cut short by a referendum.

The mid-morning results showed that the opposition, already boasting an enormous 1,758,000 votes to Chavez's 798,000, is well on its way to reaching the target of 3.76 million votes it needs to oust the authoritarian, left-wing President. Turn-out for the referendum was high, with millions of Venezuelans queuing from the early hours at polling stations all over the oil-rich country to decide the political fate of the firebrand Mr Chavez."

How did they get these "mid morning" exit polls?  I smell bullshit.  I listened to a lady over the radio watching the recall, saying that pro-Chavez neighborhoods still have about half of the people waiting in line to vote, none stop support and an estimated 60+% to 34% NO victory.

Opinions on the article I posted?