CARACAS, Venezuela, July 7 (UPI) -- Venezuela has invited international observers from the Carter Center and the Organization of the American States to monitor its upcoming presidential referendum.
"Without any doubt" the groups will be invited to the election, said Jorge Rodriguez, member of Venezuela's National Electoral Council.
The council will also invite electoral tribunals hailing from Latin American nations, El Universal newspaper reported Wednesday. The Atlanta-based Carter Center is headed up by former President Jimmy Carter.
Both the Carter Center and OAS oversaw the signature count that ratified the opposition's call for a referendum vote on President Hugo Chavez.
Critics of Chavez claim the president's Marxist tendencies and authoritarian rule are ruining the country's economy. But his supporters -- largely Venezuela's poor -- revere him as a champion of their cause.
