Supporters of Venezuelan President Hugh Chavez Contest Recall Effort

Interview with Eva Golinger Moncada, of the Venezuelan Solidarity Committee, conducted by Scott Harris

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, who survived an April 2002 coup attempt, has since endured a national strike organized by his opponents that decimated the economy. Now he faces a drive to oust him through a recall election. A coalition of opposition parties, business leaders, labor union officials and Venezuela's wealthiest citizens recently concluded a four-day drive to collect the 2.4 million signatures required to hold a national referendum on the populist president's rule. By early January, the National Electoral Council will release the count of signatures collected by Chavez's opponents and supporters who had themselves campaigned to recall key opposition legislators.

But underscoring the changing political climate in Venezuela several hundred thousand supporters of the embattled president flooded the streets of Caracas on Dec. 6 to celebrate Chavez's five years in power and to claim that despite the collection of fraudulent signatures, the opposition failed to meet its goal. Over the past year, Chavez's government has bolstered its support in Venezuela's impoverished neighborhoods by increasing its funding for education, housing and health care benefiting the nation's poor majority.

Between The Lines' Scott Harris spoke with Eva Golinger Moncada, an international human rights attorney and executive director of the Venezuela Solidarity Committee, who assesses the recall campaign and the increasing political and class polarization in Venezuelan society that many say will continue whatever the result of future referendum elections.

Read Moncada's articles and many others about the situation in Venezuela online at www.venezuelanalysis.com Contact the Venezuela Solidarity Committee via email at vscny-AT-yahoo.com

Related links:

"Opposition did not Collect Enough Signatures Against Chavez, According to Conversation Between Oppositors," www.venezuelanalysis.com and apporrea.com

"Cruisin' For A Bruisin' with Hugo," by Greg Palast, www.gregpalast.com, Nov. 29, 2003

"Venezuela in Black and White," by Greg Palast, www.gregpalast.com, Nov. 24, 2003

"Venezuela and Argentina: A Tale of Two Coups - 2004 Project Censored Award," by Greg Palast, www.gregpalast.com, Oct. 7, 2003

"Venezuela: The Other Side of the Story," by Mark Weisbrot, International Herald Tribune, Aug. 29, 2003

"Venezuelan Elite Attack President Chavez to Block Reforms that Benefit the Poor," Between The Lines interview with Gregory Wilpert, Week Ending Dec. 27, 2002

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