Marchers, in their big majority working people, chanted, “Ua, Ua, Chávez no se va!” (Chávez isn’t leaving), expressing their confidence that they will defeat this latest move against the elected president.

A large banner directed at Washington read, “Bush, you’ve made a big mistake. Venezuela is not for sale” (a play on words that also means “Venezuela does not sell out”).

In his speech to the large crowd, Chávez said he accepted the electoral council’s ruling and predicted a “popular victory” against the recall. In March the National Electoral Council had reported that only 1.8 million signatures submitted by the proimperialist opposition for the recall referendum were valid—far below the 2.4 million required. While dealt a blow, opposition forces launched a campaign to revalidate signatures. These were submitted May 29-30. The council reported that about 15,000 valid signatures above the required number had been turned in. The recall vote would probably take place in August.

The council’s announcement took place at a time of sharpening class confrontation. Major sections of the capitalist class in Venezuela, with Washington’s backing, have been seeking to remove the Chávez government. They failed in two earlier attempts—a short-lived military coup in April 2002 and a bosses’ lockout in December of that year. Both were defeated through large mobilizations of working people. The so-called referendum is a third attempt by these forces to oust the elected government. This polarization was registered in countermobilizations on the June 5-6 weekend. The day before the massive outpouring, tens of thousands of opposition supporters, mostly middle-class, held a demonstration to celebrate the electoral ruling.

In the May 29-30 revalidation process, those who signed against the president but whose signatures had irregularities were required to confirm or withdraw their signatures. Electoral Council official Jorge Rodríguez announced that the opposition managed to reconfirm 614,968 signatures—only about half of the number submitted. Adding these signatures to those already confirmed, he said, a total of 2,451,821 registered voters had signed the petition—about 15,700 more than the 20 percent of the electorate required.

Under the constitution adopted in 2000, the opposition will need to win more than 3,750,000 “yes” votes—the number of people who voted for Chávez in 2000—for the president to be dismissed.

Another 74,000 people reported to the election authorities that they had previously signed in favor of a recall but wanted to have their signatures removed.  
 
Petition process marked by irregularities
Supporters of the Chávez government said the petition process was marked by numerous irregularities, with the names of minors, the dead, and nonexistent people appearing on the petitions.

Despite these irregularities, the council said enough valid signatures had been collected to open the way to the referendum.

In a nationally televised speech on June 3, Chávez described the referendum as a “victory for democracy and the Constitution.

Chávez said he was “happy that instead of coups, the opposition is planning a democratic referendum,” demonstrating that “Venezuela is a country with participatory democracy.”

U.S. State Department spokesman Adam Ereli said Chávez’s acceptance of the electoral council decision was “a very important step toward achieving a constitutional, democratic, peaceful and electoral solution to the current impasse.” A June 5 article in the New York Times noted that among the “array of obstacles” facing the opposition was the “solid block of popular support” for the president among working people, who support government projects “from free dental clinics to literacy classes to small-scale neighborhood improvement projects.”

The paper quoted a former bank worker, Angélica Gutiérrez, who said, “My mother is 75 years old and she’s in classes, learning how to read. You can’t imagine the number of people who are in favor of Chávez.”

What Wall Street and Venezuelan capitalists are most concerned about in Venezuela is the rising struggles of workers and farmers, who are using the available political space to press for land, jobs, expanded educational opportunities, improved health care, and other basic needs.

These big-business forces are opposed to legislation adopted by the government that, to the extent it is implemented, cuts into the prerogatives of finance capital. Such measures include an agrarian reform law, protections for working fishermen from overfishing by large commercial companies, the allocation of oil funds for cheap housing and other social programs, and a series of literacy and adult education programs that have involved tens of thousands of workers and farmers.

Chávez’s government has also drawn the ire of Washington and sections of the local bourgeoisie for developing closer political and economic ties with revolutionary Cuba, which has provided thousands of doctors and other volunteers. Many working people are skeptical of rhetoric by opposition capitalists that they will uphold “democracy,” given their record of attempted coups and destabilization. At a May 16 demonstration in Caracas, 100,000 people protested the threat of U.S.-backed military intervention, underscored by the recent arrest of more than 100 Colombian soldiers at a ranch near Caracas. The authorities said the soldiers were part of an opposition plot to launch attacks on the government.  
 
 
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