SOME GOOD NEWS, FOR A CHANGE

I don't follow Chavez much but I was worried that he was on the verge of creating a dictatorship.

Chavez Loses Constitutional Vote
Dec 3, 3:18 AM (ET)
By IAN JAMES


CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) - President Hugo Chavez suffered a stunning defeat Monday in a referendum that would have let him run for re-election indefinitely and impose a socialist system in this major U.S. oil supplier.

Voters rejected the sweeping measures Sunday by a vote of 51 percent to 49 percent, said Tibisay Lucena, chief of the National Electoral Council. She said that with 88 percent of the votes counted, the trend was irreversible.

Critics - including Roman Catholic leaders, press freedom groups, human rights groups and prominent business leaders - feared the constitutional reforms would have granted Chavez unchecked power and threatened basic rights.