Venezuela Readies For Inaugural, Then Vote Review

Venezuela readies for inaugural, then vote review Associated Press Copyright 2013 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Updated 7:53 am, Friday, April 19, 2013 CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) — Government supporters began filling the streets of Venezuela's capital Friday to celebrate the inauguration of their leader, even as opponents greeted officials' surprise announcement they will accept an audit of the disputed vote that handed a narrow margin of victory to the heir of late President Hugo Chavez. Opposition candidate Henrique Capriles said the audit announced Thursday night will prove he won the presidency, but officials appear to be confident there will be no reversal of the result when the count is finished, long after Nicolas Maduro is legally sworn in for a new term as president. [...] the audit was a sudden reversal for a government that insisted all week that there would be no review of Sunday's vote and took a hard line against the opposition that included allegedly brutal treatment of protesters. The announcement appeared to be the result of pressure from at least some of the South American leaders who called an emergency meeting in Lima, Peru, Thursday night to discuss Venezuela's electoral crisis — and wound up endorsing Maduro's victory. Capriles has alleged a series of vote irregularities, some of which would be turned up by a new audit, such as charges that there was damage to 3,535 voting machines, representing 189,982 votes, and that voting rolls included 600,000 dead people. In a declaration released after the 3 1/2-hour meeting, the South American presidents asked "all parties who participated in the election to respect the official results" and said they "took positive note" of the electoral council's audit decision. The opposition has been battered for years by Chavez and many of its members say political repression has only increased under Maduro, including the arrests of more than 300 protesters this week for staging marches against Sunday's alleged election theft. In less than two weeks preceding the election, Maduro had squandered a double-digit lead in the polls as Venezuelans upset by the troubled economy, and other social problems turned away from a candidate many considered a poor imitation of the charismatic leader for whom he long served as foreign minister.