Ex-Chavez allies in battle to stop his 'coup d'état'

HIS ex-wife, his former mentor and a previous defence minister are among the millions lining up to oppose Hugo Chavez, the Venezuelan president, in a referendum tomorrow, as he seeks to put his oil-rich nation on an irreversible path to socialism and award himself almost untrammelled powers.

Marisabel Rodríguez, his ex-wife and a former member of the National Assembly, said: "This reform definitely favours the president, as there is a clear and evident concentration of power in his hands."

Luis Miquilena, 88, once Mr Chavez's political mentor and the mastermind of his first electoral victory in 1998, went further, saying: "This is a constitutional fraud, which the country must repudiate and reject."

But perhaps the most damning criticism has come from General Raul Baduel, 52, the former defence minister who rescued Mr Chavez when he was briefly overthrown in a military putsch in 2002; he has described the proposed constitutional reform as a "coup d'état".

There are 69 articles of the constitution that will change if the referendum goes Mr Chavez's way. The one that has raised the most hackles is a proposal to abolish limits on presidential terms, allowing the president, who now has the electoral dice weighted in his favour through control of the judicial system, electoral council, the media and security forces, to stay in power indefinitely.

What has the business class particularly frightened is a further erosion of property rights, raising fears of more government appropriations, with the promotion of socialist workers co-operatives and state-owned companies. The central bank, whose independence is already a distant memory, would officially become the presidential piggy bank.

However, there are sweeteners in the reform package designed to sway voters, foremost among them the establishment of a six-hour working day, to allow Venezuelans time for "personal development". Also proposed is the introduction of "community councils", allowing residents to decide how to spend government funds in their areas.

The councils form the keynote in the government campaign to support the referendum, with the president stating that power will not go to him, but rather to ordinary Venezuelans. "I want you to be the centre of power," a beaming Mr Chavez, decked out in his trademark red shirt, insists in television commercials.

The proposed reforms have done something no opposition leader has been able to achieve: uniting disparate elements of Venezuelan society against the controversial president. Among those campaigning for a No vote in the referendum are not just the opposition parties and private business, but the Catholic Church and students from across the country. The deans of ten of the country's top universities have described the reforms as "judicially unacceptable".

Government loyalists and even ministers insist the CIA is running the campaign to defeat the referendum, with the US president, George Bush, blamed for all the ills, not just in Venezuela but worldwide. "It's a script from the CIA to try to generate a block of opinion among Venezuelans that would give a sure victory to the 'No' vote," said Nicolas Maduro, the foreign minister.

One of the most respected Venezuelan polling firms has released a report that 48 per cent of respondents said they would vote "no" to the constitutional amendments, compared with 39 per cent who expressed support. If this is correct, then Mr Chavez is looking at his first electoral defeat in nine years, which have included three general elections and two referendums.

However, it is clear that the president is closing the gap, with last minute and tireless campaigning, helped by blanket coverage from the increasingly government-controlled media.

INCLUSION - IF YOUR NAME FITS

THE constitutional overhaul would cut out local and national bureaucracies and replace them with the president, his appointed authorities and a new bureaucracy based on Hugo Chavez's famous social "missions".

Yet, even as Mr Chavez waves the flag of social inclusion, job applicants who signed a petition to oust him claim they cannot get work in public institutions because of the "Tascon List".

The database, available on a CD right in front of the parliamentary offices in Caracas, lists whether individuals signed the petition against the president or not.