Sun Nov 30, 4:39 PM ET

By CHRISTOPHER TOOTHAKER, Associated Press Writer
1 hr 7 mins ago

CARACAS, Venezuela – President Hugo Chavez asked supporters Sunday to petition for a constitutional amendment that would let him seek indefinite re-election and buy more time to build a socialist economy in Venezuela.

Chavez, who was first elected in 1998, is barred from running again when his current term expires in 2013. He sought to abolish term limits last year, but Venezuelan voters rejected the bid, voting down a package of proposed constitutional changes.

"Last year, when we lost the referendum, I said I should accept the majority's decision," the former paratroop commander told a crowd of red-clad government supporters at a rally in Caracas. But now, he added, "I say you were right: Chavez will not go."

Any new attempt at a reform, which must be approved in a nationwide referendum, would open a new front for tensions between government-backers and their political rivals — many of whom warn that Chavez wants to be president for life.

Opposition leader Gerardo Blyde dismissed Chavez's newest proposal, predicting that any plan to end presidential term limits would be overwhelmingly defeated.

"It's going to be an uphill battle for him," said Blyde, who suggested that many Chavistas are losing faith in "El Comandante" as his government struggles to curb 36 percent annual inflation in Caracas, fight rampant crime and rebuild crumbling infrastructure.

Neighboring Colombian President Alvaro Uribe, meanwhile, recalled his top diplomat in Maracaibo, Venezuela's second largest city, hours after Chavez threatened to expel the official for privately praising opposition wins in five key gubernatorial and municipal elections in Venezuela last week.

In a private telephone conversation apparently recorded by Venezuelan intelligence agents, Consul Carlos Galvis called the opposition's gains "very good news." The recording was broadcast on state television by talk show host Alberto Noria.

Galvis lamented that Venezuela's state security forces were eavesdropping on him, calling it a "violation of one of my fundamental rights, the right to privacy."




Article: HERE

Sat Nov 29, 1:29 AM ET

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Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez(R) and his Russian counterpart Dmitry Medvedev at the port of La Guardia, near Caracas, on November 27, 2008. Medvedev wrapped up a strategic Latin American tour with a meeting with iconic former Cuban leader Fidel Castro.

(AFP/Thomas Coex)