Venezuela Opposition Presses Chavez Over Election Rule

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Caracas, Venezuela — Opponents of President Chavez of Venezuela met with a regional trade bloc’s human rights panel in a bid to press the government to reverse a rule that bans some of their candidates from running for office.

The president of the human rights commission of Mercosur, Adriana Pena, arrived in Caracas Wednesday to hear the complaints of key opposition figures barred from participating in local and regional elections on November 23 by a high court ruling.

“The fact that the commission has bothered to come analyze this case is significant,” a political analyst in Caracas, Ricardo Sucre, said in a telephone interview. “This is a measure that restricts political competitiveness and will have an effect when countries analyze Venezuela’s entry into the trade bloc.”

The opposition, reeling from the release of 26 decrees on the legal system, the economy, and the military, is also rallying against a ban on 272 people from seeking public office, including at least five opposition members who planned to run in November. The decrees bolster Mr. Chavez’s power by ending lawmakers’ oversight of government borrowing, allowing him to appoint regional officials and opening much of the economy to government intervention.

The opposition, which includes student and business groups, conservative free-marketeers, and leftists disenchanted with the growth of centralized control, had several meetings planned with Ms. Pena yesterday and will march in support of the excluded candidates. The court decision set back opponents’ hopes of unseating some pro-Chavez governors and mayors in the coming elections.


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