Weekly Report - 23 March 2004

To judge by the most recent news headlines in Caracas, the vexed issue of the referendum to revoke President Hugo Chávez 's mandate has virtually gone away. What has suddenly replaced it, particularly in the opposition camp, is the imminence of another political deadline: the registration of candidates for the state and local government elections due in July. The referendum issue, of course, is not dead, and its resolution cannot but affect the July contests.