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12/05/2005:

"Chavez calls watchdog group a top enemy"

CARACAS, Venezuela -- They call themselves defenders of democracy, but President Hugo Chavez brands them conspirators, coup plotters and lackeys of the U.S. government.

Leaders of the Venezuelan vote monitoring group Sumate are at the center of a political crisis as the country's main opposition parties boycott Sunday's congressional elections.

The group complains there are problems with the voting system, and the government has begun running ads on state TV attacking Sumate leader Maria Corina Machado as a dark figure paid to do Washington's dirty work.

She is facing trial next week on conspiracy charges that could bring up to 16 years in prison, but she is unapologetic about meeting with President Bush or accepting money from the National Endowment for Democracy, which receives funds from the U.S. Congress.

"We're searching for the truth, we're trying to defend the rights of the citizens, and we live in a country where people can be persecuted for doing that," Machado told The Associated Press in an interview Thursday.

Chavez said the election boycott was a plot hatched in Washington and accused Sumate of conspiracy, saying: "The empire has activated its pawns; it's moving them."

Sumate, headquartered in wealthy eastern Caracas, is widely seen as an enemy by Chavez's largely poor supporters. Some protesters this week carried a plastic foam tombstone bearing Machado's photo and the painted epitaph "Sumate," which translates as "Join Up."
State TV ads show a photo of Machado meeting Bush at the White House in May, with cartoon dollars flowing out of Bush's sleeve. Another cartoon shows Machado dancing in a Statue of Liberty outfit and singing: "We have money to topple the government."
seattlepi.nwsource.com

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