Venezuelans vote on future of Chavez

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CARACAS, Venezuela -- Under a hot sun, millions of Venezuelans waited yesterday up to nine hours to cast their vote in a referendum to oust populist President Hugo Chavez.

The first recall referendum in Venezuela's history was aimed at putting a lid on years of often violent political unrest and came after a lengthy and complicated process of mass signings of petitions.

From slums to the middle-class neighborhoods of the capital, pro- and anti-Chavez citizens lined up in droves to exercise what they proudly called their constitutional right to vote, leading officials to keep polling places open up to six hours later than scheduled.

The first results were not expected until early today, election officials said. As the night dragged on, the prospect of a close vote raised fears of recounts and charges of vote-rigging by both sides.

Opposition leader Enrique Mendoza, a provincial governor likely to run if Mr. Chavez loses, urged followers last night to be patient and vote.

"We have waited years to win the referendum; we can wait a few hours more," he said.

The heavy turnout among the country's 14 million registered voters demonstrated the depths of the political passions in the world's fifth-largest oil exporter.

"In Venezuela, so many people have never been seen for an election," said Luis Figuera, a 64-year-old retired public accountant who started waiting in line at 6 a.m. at the Andres Bello school in the middle-class neighborhood of La Candelaria.

"Now, we want to recall [Mr. Chavez], even if we have to sleep here," Mr. Figuera said.

At the Juan Pablo II apartment complex in the neighborhood of Montalban, sisters Majerla and Casilda Ramirez were numbers 794 and 795 in a line of at least 1,000. They were lucky, having been in line for only three hours, but still were forced to shade themselves from the fierce midday sun with hats and umbrellas.