To anyone who values honest journalism, it was nice to see that this Reuters article did not let a statement by Venezuelan opposition leader, Henrique Capriles, totally mislead readers.

The Venezuelan opposition is claiming they are being denied their constitutional right to a recall referendum against Nicolas Maduro. As I explained in some detail here, if the recall vote doesn’t happen before January 10, 2017, it will not trigger new presidential elections. A recall vote after January 10, 2017 could only lead to President Maduro being ousted for the remainder of his term, but his Vice President would take over until elections are held in 2019.

There was a recall vote against President Hugo Chavez in 2004 which he easily survived. How long did that recall process take?

Clearly, that is an extremely important question. This what Capriles told Reuters about that 2004 recall vote:

“The government is trying to sow the idea there isn’t time,” Capriles said. “That is false … Twelve years ago, they organized a recall referendum in four months,” he added, referring to Chavez’s August 2004 referendum victory.

The Reuters article then added the following facts:

The opposition’s signature drive actually began in the second half of 2003 for that poll, which Chavez won with 58 percent in one of numerous vote wins during his 1999-2013 rule.

Below is a screen shot

The process in 2004 took a bit over eight months – not four as Capriles claimed.

The USA does not have a recall process at the presidential level but does have them for some of its state governors. The recall process in California’s 2003 recall election took 7-8 months depending when you define the start of the petition drive. Wisconsin’s in 2012 took 6-7 months.

Can you imagine an international campaign demanding that the United States speed up its recall process?

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