Caracas
Venezuelan election officials threw out a petition demanding a vote on whether President Hugo Chavez should stay in power. Under the country’s constitution, 20 percent of registered voters can demand a recall once a president serves half of his six-year term, and Chavez reached the midpoint in August. The opposition promptly filed a petition that had been signed by 3 million people, but the National Elections Council ruled that the signatures were invalid because they were gathered months ago. “It’s not the decision we were hoping for,” said one opposition leader, “but we’re not going to stop.” Chavez claims a political elite is pushing for his removal to regain the privileges it lost when he took power. But polls indicate that most Venezuelans blame the leftist Chavez for driving their economy to ruin, and want him to go.
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