Chavez Drops Mask - Promises To Push Changes Through

So much for that "respect the will of the people" thingee. (T)Hugo Chavez took a sharply different tone yesterday when talking about the defeat of his constitutional "reforms" and has promised that the changes will be made despite the opposition victory.

BOGOTA, Colombia, Dec. 5 — 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.

Chavez also revealed that he had plans in place to confiscate all broadcasting equipment in opposition broadcasting facilities had there been unrest. The mask has slipped. Chavez will make those changes he is demanding one way or another. Which is precisely what former Chavez ally and current staunch opponent Raul Baduel warned on Monday. He predicted that the opposition had better not celebrate just yet because the work of stopping Chavez was not over yet.