Latinnews Daily - 8 March 2004

The opposition to President Hugo Chávez is becoming divided. Hardliners, such as Henrique Salas Romer, the defeated presidential candidate in 1998, argue that the opposition should have nothing to do with the proposed double-checking of petition signatures. More-moderate members of the Coordinadora Democrática, such as Enrique Mendoza, the popular governor of Miranda and the leader of the CD, argue that the double-checking should go ahead but only after the Consejo Nacional Electoral has cross checked what it says are dodgy signatures on the opposition petitions with the opposition itself.