Published: Friday, June 25, 2004
Bylined to: Philip Stinard
President Hugo Chavez Frias is gaining ground before recall referendum
VENPRES’ Daisy Blanco reports: Minister of Communications and Information (MinCI) Jesse Chacon asserts that once the National Election Council’s (CNE) official results of the signature collection process for the presidential recall referendum were known, voter intention climbed to 55% in favor of President Hugo Chavez Frias.
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Chacon said that it would be interesting to study why Chavez’s numbers went up after the recall referendum was approved. He believes that Chavez categorically demonstrated who is democratic and who is not, when he spoke to the nation on a nationwide radio and TV broadcast, accepting that he would participate in the recall referendum.
Chacon emphasized that “we Venezuelans deserve a campaign in which the two options go to the bullring so we can compare them.” He reiterated that it's interesting to analyze the proposals of both groups, since President Chavez is a leader who represents one option.
Chacon believes that the regulation of publicity must be directed toward achieving an equilibrium that is reflected on opinion programs, where both political factions should have equal participation. Chacon referred to an analysis conducted by the National Telecommunications Council (CONATEL), which indicate that 98% of opinion programs are biased in favor of the opposition. “No democracy in today’s world, whether it be Latin American, European, African, or Asian, has the phenomenon of the Venezuelan communications media.”
http://www.vheadline.com/readnews.asp?id=21739