MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Venezuelan president celebrates taunting Bush.

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez celebrated this week the second anniversary of his resumption in office, by loyal military forces, blaming George W. Bush for the failed coup and claiming the U.S. president is still working to overthrow him.

In a compulsory national broadcast the former paratrooper, --and former failed coup plotter--, turned president in 1998 with a landslide of votes, forecasted further street violence "in another attempt to overthrow him". "These days ... are extraordinarily important, the battle is still on. The oligarchy continues with its efforts to create violence?.but whatever road they choose, we'll defeat them" blasted President Chavez. "Since the president of the United States has come out and said he won't rest until Chavez is toppled, I repeat my challenge: let's see who'll around longer, whether he lasts longer in the White House or I do in Miraflores palace" challenged Mr. Chávez who is a close ally of Cuba's Fidel Castro.

Mr. Chavez and his exotic populist policies have eroded business and investors confidence forcing a strong contraction of the country's oil dependent economy. Further more his policies have split dangerously the Venezuelan society, while he's adored by his followers, mostly the impoverished masses of Venezuelans, he has managed to alienate the middle class who helped him become president but now loathe him.

President Chavez also commented on the opposition's efforts to convene a recall referendum that is bogged down with legal technicalities over the validity of some 800,000 petition signatures declared "dubious" by electoral authorities.

"The opposition knows their (petitions don't add up) and that their math of two-plus-two equals 25 is not working, and so anything can happen," he said.

The Electoral Chamber of the Venezuelan Supreme Court has ordered the National Electoral Council (CNE) to hold a referendum immediately, saying the "dubious" signatures should be deemed valid and added to the 1.8 million already validated. That would exceed the minimum of 2.4 million needed to trigger the plebiscite. This has led to a constitutional dispute that is expected to be addressed eventually by the whole court and is crucial for Mr. Chávez future.

The Venezuelan constitution provides for a radically different scenario should the referendum be held before or after Aug. 19, the date on which Chavez will have completed four of the six years of his current term.

If enough signatures are ruled valid and Chavez loses a referendum held before August 19, early elections will have to be called. But if the referendum takes place after August 19 and Chavez is defeated, Vice President Jose Vicente Rangel becomes caretaker president until January 1997 when the winner of the scheduled December 2006 presidential election will formally take office.