<Keep a very close eye on petroleum too. Markets are far, far to complacent. We are one serious geopolitical event away from a real train wreck there as well. Saudi Arabia, or increasingly likely Venezuela again.
Message 19797597;
Here we go, showtime.
Reuters
UPDATE - Chavez foes, backers clash as poll ruling delayed
Thursday February 12, 8:46 pm ET
By Pascal Fletcher
CARACAS, Venezuela, Feb 12 (Reuters) - Opponents and supporters of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez fought in the streets in two cities on Thursday as electoral authorities postponed a decision on whether the leftist leader should face a referendum on his rule.
Opposition and government supporters clashed in Valencia, Carabobo state, 100 miles (160 km) west of Caracas. Local television showed them exchanging punches and kicks and hitting each other with sticks.
In Barcelona in eastern Venezuela, foes and backers of the populist president fought with stones, bottles and sticks outside local electoral offices, TV reporters said. No details of injuries were immediately available.
Earlier, opposition students in the western Andean city of Merida clashed with riot police who fired tear gas and plastic bullets. Television reports said there were several arrests and injuries.
The violence broke out as National Electoral Council officials admitted they could not meet a Feb. 13 deadline to announce the long-awaited ruling on a possible referendum against Chavez this year.
Furious opposition leaders accused some electoral officials of siding with the president and of deliberately delaying the verification of an opposition referendum petition. Former paratrooper Chavez was elected in 1998 and his foes accuse him of trying to install Cuba-style communism in Venezuela.
The clashes also stoked fears that further delays in the referendum process could lead to fresh political turmoil in the world's No. 5 oil exporter, which was rocked by a brief coup and violent protests and strikes over the last two years.
Electoral authorities said they would try to establish and announce by the end of February whether or not the opposition had handed in enough valid signatures late last year to trigger a recall vote before August.
"We hope to have the results in February," Jorge Rodriguez, a senior electoral council official, said.
Opposition leaders have called a march on Saturday to the electoral council's headquarters in downtown Caracas to press for a speedy decision.
"The peace of this country lies in the council's decision," said Albis Munoz, president of the anti-Chavez business federation Fedecamaras.
Fearing possible violence, the United States and Britain warned their citizens in Venezuela to stay away from downtown Caracas on the weekend.
Vice President Jose Vicente Rangel warned the opposition that the government would not tolerate any disorder.
Opposition leaders say they delivered 3.4 million pro-vote signatures to the electoral authorities in December, well above the 2.4 million legally required.
Chavez and his supporters say the signatures are riddled with fraud. But the populist president says he will accept whatever decision the National Electoral Council takes. |
