Venezuelan opposition may face backlash from voters

CARACAS, Venezuela – When disgruntled soldiers led a coup attempt against President Hugo Chavez in April 2002, the violence discredited Venezuela’s opposition in the eyes of many voters. And when anti-Chavez entrepreneurs and oil executives backed a nationwide strike last year that devastated the economy, public antipathy only grew.

Now, with political leaders of the Democratic Coordinator opposition alliance refusing to accept defeat in Sunday’s presidential recall referendum, analysts say the anti-Chavez forces risk alienating even more Venezuelans and could suffer electoral setbacks in next month’s state and local elections.

Two days after 58 percent of a record 8.5 million voters cast ballots to keep Chavez in power, opposition leaders Tuesday continued to insist they had been deprived of victory by electoral manipulation and demanded a manual recount.

Although international observers have deemed the vote free and fair, they and the National Electoral Council agreed to inspect paper records from 150 of the 8,300 precincts and compare them with electronic vote tabulations, former U.S. President Jimmy Carter said. The process could take a day or two.

But the observers’ concession to the partial recount contained a hint of impatience.

“We have no reason to doubt the integrity of the electoral system or the accuracy of the referendum results as announced,” Carter said, explaining the recount as an act of appeasement. “Any allegations of fraud are completely unwarranted.”

The Organization of American States likewise said it had no evidence of fraud. Echoing the advice of Carter, OAS chief and former president of neighboring Colombia Cesar Gaviria urged the opposition to recognize its defeat and move on.

“This country needs to accept the democratic result and move to a new era of understanding and political dialogue and agreement on the fundamentals,” he said. “We have to close this phase and try something different.”

Despite the judgment of the observers that the announced results matched those of their own independent “quick counts” and a partial audit of paper balloting records done early Monday, opposition politicians with aspirations to replace Chavez insisted the vote was manipulated.

“We denounce before the country and before the world that a massive violation against the will of the voters has been perpetrated in Venezuela,” said Enrique Mendoza, governor of Miranda state and a frequently mentioned potential candidate in the next presidential election.

Pompeyo Marquez, another senior figure in the opposition, vowed that the alliance would remain united against accepting the referendum results and “continue to fight.”