Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez calmly welcomed news that he would likely face a recall referendum on his rule, saying those who accuse him of steering Venezuela into dictatorship have been proven wrong.
Still, the prospect of a vote promised to plunge deeply polarized Venezuela -- the world's fifth-largest oil exporter, into a turbulent new phase of an escalating power struggle.
"I accept the challenge," Chavez said in a nationally televised address hours after the National Elections Council projected that opposition leaders had gathered enough signatures to force the vote.
PHOTO: REUTERS
"I hope that some people realize -- if they are still confused -- that Hugo Chavez is not the tyrant some say he is," Chavez said.
`enough signatures'
Thursday's announcement capped months of wrangling over the recall petition. Venezuela's opposition insisted election authorities did all they could to derail a vote, while Chavez insisted his foes resorted to fraud to gather signatures.
Chavez acknowledged for the first time Thursday that any fraud was not widespread enough to affect the results.
"They simply gathered enough signatures. Let's accept that," he said.
Chavez's opponents accuse the former paratroop commander of gradually imposing an authoritarian government. Supporters applaud his far-reaching social programs for Venezuela's poor majority.
Thousands of Chavez supporters rallied outside the presidential palace, chanting: "Oh no! Chavez won't go!"
The president assured them he would win a vote and warned his opponents: "It's not good to sing victory ahead of time."
Elections council director Jorge Rodriguez said a count of roughly 40 percent of voter signatures indicated Chavez opponents had gathered 2,451,821 signatures on petitions to demand the referendum -- surpassing the required 2,436,083 signatures.
Opposition leaders cheered and hugged each other at their headquarters, celebrating their first victory after a string of defeats that including a botched 2002 coup and a two-month general strike last year that failed to topple Chavez but ruined the economy.
"We did it!" said Enrique Mendoza, leader of the Democratic Coordinator coalition.
Chavez said he hoped the prospect of a democratic vote would deter future attempts to overthrow his leftist government.
fraud investigations
"US President George W. Bush is the true instigator of all these movements," Chavez alleged, repeating a refrain which Washington routinely denies.
"I'm happy that instead of coups, the opposition is planning a democratic referendum," he said.
Political violence gripped parts of the capital Thursday.
Chavez supporters set trucks ablaze, severely beat opposition lawmaker Rafael Marin outside Congress and fired on the offices of Caracas' opposition mayor, Alfredo Pena.
They also fired shots at El Nacional newspaper and Radio Caracas Television and ransacked the offices of Asi es la Noticia newspaper.
One police officer died after being hit by a vehicle fleeing the violence, said Caracas police chief Lazaro Forero.
For a recall to succeed, more citizens would have to vote against Chavez than the 3.76 million people who re-elected him to a six-year term in 2000.
The elections council also approved recall referendums against nine opposition lawmakers, Rodriguez said. He did not announce dates for the votes.
More than 2.4 million signatures -- 20 percent of the electorate -- are needed to trigger a recall vote on Chavez. Activists say they turned in more than 3.4 million signatures in December.
The elections council accepted 1.9 million signatures, rejected another 400,000 and ordered more than 1 million citizens to confirm last weekend that they had signed the petition.
Government supporters claimed the opposition used thousands of fake ID cards to bolster its total number of signatures. Several government investigations into alleged fraud were continuing.
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