[NYTr] Amazing how poorly mainstream news is reporting Venez referendum Date: Sun, 2 Dec 2007 21:32:39 -0600 (CST) Via NY Transfer News Collective * All the News that Doesn't Fit [More than an hour ago, Reuters reported "Govt-connected sources" told them unofficially that 3 exit polls indicated a win for the YES vote. AFP on Google, meanwhile, is claiming there WERE no exit polls, even 4 hours or so after polls officially closed, and that the race is very tight. Google's news site for the AFP story meanwhile says the story itself is 16 HOURS old. WTF?? And the Opposition is rousting their voters out of the house to go down to observe the "counting" so Hugo can't pull a fast one, or something. Here's AP from the Intl Herald Trib. It's offically dated Dec 2, though its URL is dated Dec 3 and in Paris where the Trib is published, it is December 3. Maybe clocks have started to run backwards in Venezuela's honor. The Venezuelan news sources have little info that's new, and we'll try now to look for espanol news. As with the bizarre reports from the Chavez recall referendum, there seems to be lots of chaff being blown around. At least AP quotes the Vice President, along with other "anonymous" sources. Contrary to the AFP report, VP Rodriguez is quoted as saying some polling places were still open 5 hours after the official 4 pm closing time because of long lines. -NY Transfer, 12/2/2007 22:24 EST] AP vis International Herald Tribune - Dec 3, 2007 http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2007/12/03/news/Venezuela-Constitution.php Tight race in vote on Chavez's constitutional changes, vice president says The Associated Press Sunday, December 2, 2007 CARACAS, Venezuela: Hugo Chavez sought to cement his power and end presidential term limits in a vote Sunday that the government said was too close to call. "The result of the referendum is close," Vice President Jorge Rodriguez said from Chavez's campaign headquarters. "We will respect the result, whatever it is b even it's by one single vote." He said some polling stations were still open where lines remained nearly five hours after the official close. Caravans of Chavez's supporters took to the streets honking horns and blaring celebratory music as they anticipated victory, but opposition leaders did not concede and called for their supporters to closely monitor the ballot count. Opposition leader Julio Borges also said the results were very close, likening it to a photo finish. Two pro-Chavez officials told The Associated Press earlier that their exit polls show a victory for the reforms, but an opposition campaign official said its poll shows Chavez headed for defeat. All spoke on condition of anonymity because of election rules barring the early release of results. * ================================================================= NY Transfer News Collective * A Service of Blythe Systems Since 1985 - Information for the Rest of Us Our main website: http://www.blythe.org List Archives: http://blythe-systems.com/pipermail/nytr/ Subscribe: http://blythe-systems.com/mailman/listinfo/nytr =================================================================