Fast forward five years. A constituent assembly has been called and a new constitution has been approved by referendum. A new article in that new constitution expressly allows recall referenda against all elected officials, provided sufficient signatures are gathered. The opposition, under a set of highly restrictive rules and elaborate security procedures imposed by the elections' authorities gather their signatures. 90% of election observers who witness say the process functioned well, 10% say reasonably well. The opposition then turn in these signatures, with hundreds of thousands to spare. What does CNE do? On the basis of rules that had not been made clear during the process, it decides to disqualify or question over a million of the signatures, further delaying a referendum that ought to take place no later than May 16th, and most likely stopping it altogether.
What happened to all that sovereignty-belongs-to-the-people rhetoric, all the beautiful people-power promises Chavez made that got him elected? How can the elections' authority now deny, on a burlesque of technicalities, the right of the holders of sovereignty to make their voices heard in accordance to the constitution? What kind of sick game is this?
It pains me to write it, but today is the day Francisco Toro ceased being a comeflor.
