Chavez vows to thwart will of voters

Washington Post:

Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez on Wednesday used a four-letter expletive to dismiss the opposition victory in Sunday's referendum and pledged to press forward with plans to approve constitutional changes that would expand his power in one of the world's leading oil producing-countries.

Chávez's remarks, made on television programs broadcast in Venezuela, represent a sharp turn from his magnanimous comments Monday after voters narrowly blocked 69 constitutional changes in a national vote. It was the opposition's first electoral victory since Chávez first won office in a landslide election in 1998.

"I think the opposition has nothing to celebrate," Chávez said. "We didn't lose anything. Prepare yourself because a new offensive will come with a proposed reform -- that one, or transformed, or simplified."

Chávez said Venezuelans have flooded him with letters of support. He said that with enough signatures, he could propose another referendum, "in other conditions, in another moment." Addressing his foes, he added: "I wouldn't sing victory, opposition misters."

The comments came after Venezuelan newspapers reported Wednesday that Chávez ceded to his foes in the pre-dawn hours Monday only after high-ranking military officers pressured him to do so. Venezuela has been rife with rumors about such a scenario because it had taken the National Electoral Council hours to announce the results, though voting in Venezuela is tallied electronically.

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I think he ceded because as close as the margin was it was too big to stuff the ballot boxes and apparently there were a few people with the integrity that Chavez lacks. It is also clear that he is determined to impose his bad polices on Venezuela by hook or crook. He is incorrigibly ignorant of economics and will do anything to inflict the sickness of socialism on the country.