Hugo Chavez

"We've initiated a new phase to deepen this project. . . . The people must know that now more than ever we will pay the social debt," said Chavez, whose reforms have diverted oil wealth to housing, medicine and education for the poor.

"Venezuela has changed forever. . . . Any dialogue must be to move this project forward," he said at a news conference.

Former U.S. President Jimmy Carter, who led an observers' mission, said their verification matched results from the National Electoral Council, which gave Chavez 58 percent of the vote. Officials said more than 8.5 million of the 14 million registered voters participated.

Critics forced the referendum on Chavez by obtaining 2.4 million signatures on a petition, but the results showed the country's poor backed the charismatic president, a friend of Cuban leader Fidel Castro.

United often only by hatred of Chavez, the opposition coalition struggled to present an alternative. Buoyed by soaring oil prices, Chavez meanwhile bolstered public spending on his programs for the impoverished majority.

The Japan Times Weekly: Aug. 21, 2004
(C) All rights reserved