Chavez: No oil if U.S. meddles in vote

Critics decry proposals
Chavez, who was first elected in 1998, denies he is trying to amass power, saying the changes are necessary to give the people a greater voice in government and to move toward a socialist system.

Human Rights Watch warned the reforms would threaten fundamental rights, citing one revision allowing the president to declare indefinite states of emergency during which the government could detain citizens without charge and censor the media.

“These amendments would enable President Chavez to suspend basic rights indefinitely by maintaining a perpetual state of emergency,” said Jose Miguel Vivanco of the New York-based group.

Chavez’s opponents also have questioned the National Electoral Council’s impartiality, especially after Chavez named its former chief, Jorge Rodriguez, as his vice president in January. But in contrast to past elections, when the opposition has boycotted votes or been split on whether to participate, this time many opposition leaders are emboldened and urging voters to turn out in large numbers.

Violent clashes during protests
University students have led protests and occasionally clashed with police and Chavista groups. One man was shot dead Monday while trying to get through a road blocked by protesters.

The opposition also has been heartened by some recent defections from Chavez’s movement, including former Defense Minister Gen. Raul Baduel. Even Chavez’s ex-wife, Marisabel Rodriguez, has urged Venezuelans to vote “no.”

About 100 electoral observers from 39 countries in Latin America, Europe and the United States are on hand, plus hundreds of Venezuelan observers, the National Electoral Council said.

Yet, absent this time are the Organization of American States and the European Union, which have monitored past votes.

Among those attending are observers from the National Lawyers Guild and the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People.

Chavez’s opponents have been suspicious of electronic voting machines made by Boca Raton, Florida-based Smartmatic Inc., which is primarily owned by three Venezuelans. But Luis Enrique Lander of the Venezuelan vote-monitoring group Ojo Electoral said his team is satisfied with vote preparations and safeguards.

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