VENEZUELA: Venezuelan voters rose at dawn yesterday to participate in a recall referendum which will remove President Hugo Chavez from power or ratify his mandate for another two years. "I have never seen queues as long as these at an election before," said former US president Jimmy Carter, who said he was fully confident the ballot would be "honest, fair and transparent".
The government laid on free public transport for the day, while activists on both sides offered lifts to anyone with difficulties getting to voting centres. Some queues stretched half a mile as election authorities anticipated a record turnout and pledged to keep booths open until everyone had a chance to vote.
The day got off to a peaceful start, but glitches in new electronic fingerprint equipment delayed the opening of some vote centres by up to three hours. Each voter was asked to deposit an electronic thumbprint to verify their identity and prevent fraud but the brand new machines clattered to a sudden halt.
The voice of Ali Rodriguez, the country's best-known protest singer, echoed from trucks and homes around the capital city while sirens blared and fireworks reminded citizens to fulfil their democratic duty.
President Chavez cast his vote in the working-class Pastora neighbourhood yesterday afternoon, pausing long enough to describe the referendum as "a victory for the people, for democracy". The Venezuelan leader's radical reform programme has sparked fierce debate, with middle-class citizens denouncing a slide toward authoritarian rule.
Government supporters point to a new constitution which has expanded civil liberties and increased citizen control over state affairs.
Observers fear a close result or premature speculation on the outcome might spark violent disturbances. Thousands of Cuban doctors have been withdrawn from community clinics to private homes in case violent mobs turn on them, while shanty town soup kitchens have stockpiled two weeks' worth of rations in case of street blockades.
The referendum question asks voters if they agree "to nullify for the current presidential term the popular mandate conferred through democratic and legitimate elections on Mr Hugo Rafael Chavez Frias as president of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela?"
If Mr Chavez is defeated, he will step down immediately but will have the option of competing in fresh presidential elections within 30 days.
The opposition needs to win more than the 3.7 million votes Mr Chavez received in the 2000 elections or, should the turnout be higher, a simple majority.
Latin American governments are paying close attention to the vote as the outcome will have a ripple effect in the region.
President Chavez has spearheaded an economic and political integration project which challenges US hegemony in its backyard. A defeat for Mr Chavez would deprive the region of its most articulate critic of Washington's economic and foreign policies.
Cuban citizens were glued to their radios yesterday as the removal of Mr Chavez would end the system of preferential prices for oil imports from Venezuela.
The Bush administration is also watching the referendum result as any subsequent unrest could spark further price rises in the oil industry, which provides almost 15 per cent of US imports.
The referendum campaign was marked by mutual accusations of unfair tactics.
President Chavez has used state resources to campaign for a vote in his favour, while the mainstream media has put its considerable resources at the service of the opposition.
Government supporters fear that the opposition will stage a repeat of the "guarimba", a middle-class revolt which caused chaos in march, leaving at least a dozen people dead.
By the same token, opposition activists fear that a government defeat will be greeted with mob violence.