Some Venezuelans, including cardinal, won't accept referendum results

Published: 2004-08-26

CARACAS, Venezuela (CNS) -- Although Venezuela's National Electoral Council and international organizations declared President Hugo Chavez the winner in a referendum on his presidency, some opponents have refused to accept the results. The day after the Aug. 15 referendum, retired Venezuelan Cardinal Rosalio Castillo Lara, a former Vatican official who has accused Chavez of being communist and corrupt, called the referendum a "gigantic fraud." In an interview with Vatican Radio, Cardinal Castillo repeated several observations made by other Chavez opponents. He said poll workers supportive of the opposition were replaced at the last minute and that opposition-sponsored exit polls had projected Chavez losing with only 40 percent of the vote. In addition, the cardinal said the government had paid poor people "the equivalent of $50 or $60 to vote for the president." Cardinal Castillo's charge of bribery apparently referred to the educational and other programs the government has created recently for the poor; some programs include scholarships. Chavez's critics say those programs are intended to buy votes. Venezuelan Vice President Jose Vicente Rangel rejected the charges and said the cardinal's statement showed "a lack of responsibility as a citizen."

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