Chavez calls for final poll push

CARACAS

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez called on hundreds of thousands of
supporters who marched on the capital of the oil-rich nation to prepare for a "final
attack" on the recall referendum his opponents have put up to remove him from
office.

Huge crowds gathered on Bolivar Avenue in downtown Caracas, where the left-wing
leader called on them to "stay alert" ahead of Sunday’s vote.

"We start today the final attack, a popular offensive from all directions, with
much intelligence and without losing calm," Mr Chavez, wearing his trademark
red shirt, told the crowd.

"We will win, but we have not won yet. Careful with triumphalism — there are many days left. We cannot make any mistakes in the seven days we have left."

The pro-Chavez mayor of the Libertador neighbourhood, Freddy Bernal, said 900,000 people took part in the march for victory. But fire chief Rodolfo Briceno, who works for anti-Chavez Caracas mayor Alfredo Pena, said: "They are more than 100,000 and they arrived in 1000 buses provided by the Government."

The right-wing opposition held a rock and salsa concert as a counter-protest. The television stars who hosted the show urged people to vote yes and the crowd responded with chants of "Chavez out".

The demonstrations came as Mr Chavez and his opponents mounted massive door-to-door campaigns to woo voters in the poll.

Enrique Mendoza, a leader of the opposition conservative Democratic Co-ordinator coalition, predicted Mr Chavez would be recalled by "an ample majority".

But Mr Chavez’s campaign spokesman, Samuel Moncada, said the goal was to "obtain twice as many votes as the opposition ... and to win in such overwhelming fashion there would be no more doubts for the opposition, the international community and in particular for the Government of George W. Bush".

Mr Chavez has accused the US of funding the campaign to overthrow him.

The referendum will ask Venezuelans whether Mr Chavez should step down now, two years before his six-year term ends.

Opinion polls suggest the race will be close, with many of the 14 million registered voters still undecided.

The latest surveys generally give an edge to Mr Chavez, but some analysts have questioned the reliability of opinion polls in a country that has been rocked by sporadic political violence in recent years.

The right-wing opposition — a diverse group united mainly by their hatred of Mr Chavez — had deployed 435,000 volunteers in its get-out-the-vote drive, spokesman Jesus Torrealba said.

Chavez opponents have closed ranks in recent months, but the CD coalition remains an eclectic mix of political, business, labour, social and military groups with often divergent views.

Mr Chavez, a former paratrooper who spent two years in prison for leading a failed military coup in 1992, has personally led the campaign to defeat the referendum.

But even if he loses the vote, he could again stand for president in the new election that would be called one month after the referendum.

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