Chavez wins referendum

From: http://another-green-world.blogspot.com

You would think this vote abolished elections if you read the mainstream media, just means candidates can run again for president....no term limits in the UK for example for PM, although Gordon Brown is in more trouble over corporate donations!

lots of good stuff in referendum, lots of direct democracy stuff...my friend in Caracas mailed me with the news an hour or so ago noting 'have just come from filming the vote in the barrio...my well-placed sources are saying 7-10 point win for chaves (the yes vote)'

Reuters says the same here
Three exit polls showed Chavez won by between six and eight percentage points in a vote where turnout was low, the two sources said.

If confirmed, it would be by far the slimmest victory margin in the career of a man who wants to rule for life and turn the major oil exporter into a socialist state.

Most pre-vote opinion surveys predicted a close vote on a package of constitutional changes that the opposition and even some former longtime allies say is authoritarian.

The reforms would allow Chavez to run for reelection indefinitely, control foreign currency reserves, appoint loyalists over regional elected officials and censor the media if he declares an emergency.

Pollsters had said a low turnout would favor Chavez, who activated a state-backed get-out-the-vote campaign against an underfunded, fragmented opposition. The left-wing leader, a fierce critic of the United States, has never lost a national vote and had predicted he would win by at least 10 points posted by Derek Wall