Official: signs of fraud in Venezuela recall drive
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Chavez supporters camp outside National Elections Council headquarters in Caracas.
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CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) -- A top election official said Thursday that authorities have detected signs of possible fraud in a petition for a recall referendum against President Hugo Chavez and that they may need several more weeks to decide on its validity.
National Elections Council director Jorge Rodriguez said the council has set aside an unspecified number of signatures to be reviewed again and would not be ready to announce a decision in time for Friday's deadline.
He said the council was "doing everything possible" to rule by the end of the month.
His comments come as opposition leaders threaten to step up street protests to demand an end to the delays.
It has been almost two months since opposition leaders submitted what they claimed were 3.4 million signatures to demand the recall -- well above the 2.4 million needed to trigger the vote.
Rodriguez said thousands of petition sheets could be thrown out because staff at sign-up centers had filled out basic personal information themselves -- and then asked citizens to sign them.
Election officials are at odds over whether that procedure constitutes a violation of election rules. The elections council is divided between three directors -- including Rodriguez -- widely considered sympathetic to Chavez and two seen as pro-opposition.
Tensions between allies and adversaries of the leftist president are rising as the council prepares to decide on the validity of the petition.
Government foes staged protests in the capital and four other major cities on Thursday. They plan to march on the National Electoral Council, where dozens of "Chavistas" are camped and ready for confrontation, on Saturday.
The U.S. State Department issued a statement Thursday warning that "political demonstrations, with potential for violence, may take place" on Friday and in following days.
"U.S. citizens should avoid all demonstrations and areas where groups are gathering," it stated.
Any clashes between political rivals would interrupt months of calm -- a change from the frequent political violence that left dozens dead and hundreds injured after a 2002 coup and two-month strike last year.
Venezuela is deeply divided over Chavez.
Opponents claim Chavez, a close ally of Cuba's Fidel Castro who was re-elected to a six-year term in 2000, of steering Venezuela toward communism as he rides roughshod over the nation's democratic institutions.
Chavez denies the allegations and argues that his efforts to improve living conditions for the poor have been misinterpreted. He has vowed to defeat a possible recall vote and win the next scheduled presidential elections in 2006.
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