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Friday, May 14, 2004

The developments could derail a possible recall referendum against Chavez and deepen political polarization in Venezuela, a top supplier of oil to the United States.

Venezuela's National Elections Council accused observers from the Organization of American States and the U.S.-based Carter Center of sympathizing with the opposition's drive for a presidential recall.

It said the observers betrayed neutrality by declaring on Wednesday that people who signed presidential recall petitions could not withdraw their signatures.

Opposition leaders delivered 3.4 million signatures in December to demand the referendum. They needed about 2.4 million.

But the Chavez-dominated elections council ruled that only 1.8 million signatures were valid and ordered more than 1 million people to confirm they signed later this month, most because they allowed organizers to transcribe personal information on forms before signing the petitions.

"They are forcing us to reconsider the OAS and Carter Center mission," said Francisco Carrasquero, the council's president. "If that's how it is, the election authority won't hesitate to reconsider the activities of these missions."

Thursday's warning stoked tensions already heightened by the arrests this week of more than 100 suspected Colombian paramilitaries allegedly training outside Caracas to assassinate Chavez.

Chavez claims the United States, along with Venezuelan and Cuban exiles, supported the alleged plot. Washington rejected the claim, and opposition leaders largely have dismissed the arrests as an elaborate ruse to deflect attention from the recall effort.

No weapons have been seized, and Venezuelan officials have provided only vague information about who the masterminds of the purported conspiracy could be.

On Monday, Venezuelan soldiers seeking weapons raided a warehouse used by the U.S. Embassy to store furniture. The search turned up nothing.

The government also ordered a U.S. military liaison mission to vacate its offices in the Caracas Fort Tiuna military base, arguing it needed the space for an education program for poor preschoolers. In August 2001, the government also told the mission to leave but never followed through on the order.

Chavez claims Robert Alonso, a Cuban exile and longtime Venezuela resident who owns the farm where the suspected paramilitaries were detained, was involved in the alleged plot to kill him. Alonso, in hiding, has denied it.

Without providing evidence, Chavez also implicated Pedro Carmona, a businessman who became interim president during a short-lived 2002 coup and is now in exile in Colombia.

Opposition leaders already were worried about the logistics of mobilizing hundreds of thousands of people to come forward during the re-signature process at month's end.

The OAS and the Carter Center said Wednesday that "the act of petition signing, the same as the act of voting, is a singular expression of will that cannot be subsequently changed." They said they were "deeply concerned by reports of intimidation of signers."

Council director Jorge Rodriguez accused the OAS and Carter Center of "losing any sort of impartial authority." He said election officials would not meet with the two groups unless they retracted their statements.

OAS and Carter Center officials declined to comment, saying they were still evaluating the council's remarks. The two groups have led international efforts to help stabilize Venezuela since the 2002 coup.

© 2004 Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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