Venezuela’s Revocatorio

On August 15, 2004 Venezuelans went to the polls to vote on a petition to recall President Hugo Chávez from office two years before completing his term. The effort was initiated by opposition groups that had already tried to remove the president extraconstitutionally by methods that included a general strike and an attempted coup. The president’s falling approval ratings and difficult economic conditions had convinced the opposition it was sure to win, but President Chávez turned the tables through expanded social programs (made possible by high oil prices) and a successful effort to register and mobilize his supporters among the poor. As a result, Chávez emerged politically stronger and more determined to deepen and broaden the revolutionary content of his policies. The opposition, by contrast, was left weakened and deeply divided, with some prominent spokesmen insisting, against the judgement of key international observers, that the election was fraudulent. The absence of an effective, loyal opposition worried many observers, including some sectors within chavismo itself.