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Monday, September 4, 2006
In the run up to Presidential elections in December, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, has announced a plan to change the constitution so that it allows him to hold office indefinitely. Under the current constitution Chavez, if re elected this year, would have to step down from the Presidency in 2013. But the Venezuelan leader, confident of a victory in this years elections said he planned to call a referendum in 2010 to change the constitution, allowing him to hold office without any term limit. The President revealed that this plan would help him advance a socialist revolution in Venezuela. Chavez, who first won elections in 1998, was re-elected in 2000 after voters approved a new constitution. Earlier this year the radical leader had threatened to extend presidential terms if the opposition boycotted elections now set for December 3. This time, according to poll analyst Luis Vicente Leon, Chavez is using this announcement to polarize the electorate, a situation that has worked in his favor in the past. Leon commented that although there may well be Venezuelans that support Chavez, they certainly may not want him to be president forever.
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