[NYTr] Pro-Chavez Leaders Examine Reasons for Referendum Defeat Date: Fri, 7 Dec 2007 21:57:42 -0600 (CST) Via NY Transfer News Collective * All the News that Doesn't Fit Venezuelanalysis - Dec 6, 2007 http://www.venezuelanalysis.com/news/2969 Pro-Chavez Leaders Examine Reasons for Venezuelan Referendum Loss by Chris Carlson MC)rida, December 6, 2007 (venezuelanalysis.com) - In the aftermath of Sunday's constitutional reform referendum, various pro-Chavez leaders examined the reasons for their failure to win the referendum last Sunday. Most leaders agreed that there was doubt and confusion among the population due to a failure of the Chavez campaign to explain the contents of the reform and to fight media manipulation. They called for a process of self-criticism and reflection inside the movement and inside the United Socialist Party (PSUV). "If there is no criticism, if there is no self-criticism, we will never be able to construct a revolution," said the Pro-Chavez parliamentarian Luis TascC3n. "Chavismo is the fundamental force in Venezuela, and Chavismo will continue building this country, but we need to reassess ourselves. We need to recover our lost humility." TascC3n stated that the defeat of the reform was not due to Chavez supporters voting against it, but rather the failure to mobilize enough pro-Chavez voters. The parliamentarian called for a reorganization of the newly formed PSUV party, which he said has many internal problems and is not efficient for winning elections. He pointed out that while there are 6 million people registered in the PSUV, only slightly more than 4 million people voted for the reform. Ex-Vice President and staunch Chavez-supporter JosC) Vicente Rangel also called for the government to review its operations and carry out a process of "cleaning up" the government bureaucracy. Rangel suggested that the constitutional reform was too complex, and caused confusion among the population. He commented that the National Assembly shouldn't have incorporated the additional changes to Chavez' original proposal. "With just the 33 articles that Chavez proposed it was enough. Just as it was it had things that were complicated, such as the new geometry of power," he said. But the ex-vice president considered the turn-out a success, given that nearly 50 percent of the electorate voted in support of the socialist project "in spite of the media attacks and with so much disinformation." "That has never happened anywhere in the world," he added. Other activists made similar criticisms, attributing the electoral loss to fear and confusion among the population about the reforms. They pointed to the failure of the PSUV, and the electoral campaign, to inform people about the reform, and battle the media attacks. "In general terms, we weren't able to defeat the fear that the opposition planted in a good part of the population," said the vice-president of the Bolivarian Committee for the Defense of the Constitutional Reform, Alfredo Arcila. Arcila stated that the opposition media campaign created fear by lying about the contents of the reform and by using the method of Goebbels to "repeat a lie a thousands times until it becomes true." He mentioned some of the most common manipulations of the opposition campaign, including the claim that the government would do away with private property, that the reform would make Chavez "president for life", and that all children would become property of the state. "The opposition depended on lies, planting doubts in the population to create confusion," he said. But Arcila assured that they aren't trying to pin the blame on anyone, but rather "adopt self-criticism as the first step." He called for a process of profound reflection from the people in the PSUV and in all government positions to determine who is truly dedicated to the revolution. He also attributed the defeat to high levels of abstention. "The increased abstention involved three million Chavistas who would never vote 'No', but they were fearful and doubtful, and preferred to stay home," he said. The pro-Chavez parties Patria Para Todos (PPT) and the Communist Party of Venezuela (PCV) agreed in their analysis as well, saying that the population was confused about the reform. "The opposition played a lot more with the people's feelings than with the real content of the reform," said PPT Secretary General JosC) Albornoz. "The population didn't understand what the reform was proposing." Albornoz also pointed to the failure to inform voters about the reforms, and clear up people's doubts about the proposal. "There had to be a bigger effort to reach out to the communities, schools, and workplaces. We should have identified what people's fears were. The opposition manipulated many things, such as losing control of your children. That was a sensitive spot among the population." Converting the Defeat into a Victory Most pro-Chavez leaders agreed that the defeat could also prove to be a victory in some ways. Luis TascC3n stated that it would produce a "revolution within the revolution," and force the opposition to recognize that Venezuela is a democracy. "I think we can convert this defeat into a victory because it will guarantee a revolution inside the revolution," he said. "In order to revolutionize Venezuela we have to revolutionize Chavismo." "I feel hurt because we didn't win," he continued, "but apart from that we won many things. Our electoral system was proven to be transparent, the opposition finally accepted the 1999 Constitution, and the radical sectors of the opposition were weakened" "Venezuela is happy, although there are a lot of things we have to talk about," he concluded. * ================================================================= 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 =================================================================