Meanwhile in Venezuela

A G-15 summit is being held in Caracas. Anti-government demonstrators have taken to the streets in violent protests to disrupt and call attention to their demands for a recall referendum of Hugo Chavez.

The demonstrations are expected to continue until Sunday, when the CNE (election council) is scheduled to make another announcement about the referendum petition.

If you haven't been following, the deal is that, after a failed coup and a failed attempt to destabilize the economy, the anti-government forces are attempting a recall referendum. They must have a certain number of signatures on a petition according to law in order for such a recall vote to be enacted. Their numbers were much too low at the deadline for filing such a petition, and so they took three weeks longer to phony up some. Rather than reject the petitions on grounds of missing the deadline, the CNE agreed to count signatures. When they did so, they found many were pages contained signatures filled out by the same person, forged signatures, signatures of dead people and children, and other "irregularities". The opposition has been demonstrating in an increasingly violent manner to force the recall, while the CNE is still attempting to determine how to handle the suspect petition sheets. It looks like they will decide to allow a certain period of time for the questionable signatures to be verified by the people whose names are on those sheets. Several sites have been set up to permit those people to confirm or deny, and so far, a number of people have denied.

In the meantime, the opposition are determined, violent and apparently well-funded (in part by the U.S.).

A Reuters report on the riots is fairly well balanced.

And, of course, as usual, the U.S. coverage (SF Gate) (New York Times) sets the scene a little differently, blaming the National Guard for inciting a merely "jeering" crowd. It is impossible for us to know what happened. But, if you look at the background, the opposition's behavior in the past and the government's concessions, the conclusion points toward the opposition as instigator of violence.

The Organization of American States, the EU and the U.S.-based Carter Center have urged Venezuela to ignore technical glitches [in the referendum petitions] in favor of voters' apparent intent.

How rich.

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