Caracas, November 5, 2007 (venezuelanalysis.com)-

Over a hundred thousand Venezuleans marched in support of President Chavez and of his

constitutional reform on Sunday, which Chavez described as the most important

referendum of his presidency.

Marchers,

almost all dressed in red - the color of Venezuela's Bolivarian movement -

filled the entire 1.3 km (0.8 mi) Bolivar

Avenue and spilled into side streets. The demonstration

proceeded without incident and culminated with a three hour speech by Chavez. During

the 8.5 km (5.3 mi) march, which passed through most of Caracas, rains poured down on marchers for

part of the time.

The

constitutional reform referendum, which will take place on December 2nd,

will be in two parts, where Chavez is urging his supporters to vote "Yes" in

both parts of the reform. If passed, the reform would revise 69 articles of Venezuela's

350-article constitution. Sunday's march marked the beginning of the "Yes"

campaign.

"Now ‘Yes!'

Here begins another great battle to obtain another great victory, but we have to

fight in all parts of the country," said Chavez to the cheering crowd on Sunday.

"Every year will have a battle. The path of revolution is the path of a thousand

battles. We have managed to coincide with the path of a thousand battles the path

of a thousand victories," he added.

Chavez

also said that this was the most important referendum of his presidency. "I

have no doubt that this is the most important of all the referenda that have taken

place, including the recall referendum of August 2004 and the one of December

1999 with which the current constitution was approved," said Chavez.

One of the

key challenges in this referendum, argued Chavez, is to overcome abstention. He

mentioned that in the recall referendum abstention was at 30% and during the

approval of the constitution it was at 53% of registered voters. "We have to

defeat abstention so that there is no doubt that the great majority of Venezuelans

approve of the constitutional reform." What is needed is a "resounding"

victory, according to Chavez.

During

his speech Chavez warned that the opposition will try to do anything to stop

the reform, including destabilizing the country. "I warn he leaders of the

opposition, who are going about playing with fire, invoking a military coup and

filling the streets with violence - I suggest to them that they forget about

this possibility because if they continue on this path they will regret it because

by no path will they be able to defeat us."

Referring

to opposition students who had rampaged down the same avenue where the

pro-reform march was taking place and set fire to several trees and a police

car, Chavez warned, "We won't allow these spoiled little brats, these rich kids

with a silver spoon in their mouths to go around tearing up the center of Caracas." He asked the

city mayor to closely examine permits for marches, in case the violence was

their main objective. One of the opposition's main goals, according to Chavez,

was a death that they can blame on the government.

The

international news channel CNN was another target during Chavez's speech, which

he accused of having joined the opposition because it was broadcasting

unverified reports about Chavez supporters supposedly killing an anti-Chavez

student during a demonstration last week. Police have already arrested the killer,

who was hired to assassinate the student due to a dispute within the university

that had nothing to do with the constitutional reform protests.

Chavez

also said that the reform represents a historic break with the past and would

usher in 21st century socialism in Venezuela. "Although there still is

much to do, Caracas

already has a new face," he said. Also, by the year 2021, when Chavez says the

Bolivarian Revolution will be complete, "There will be no favelas [slums], but

a socialist and beautiful city."

The

reform, which changes 69 out of 350 articles of Venezuela's 1999 constitution, is

supposed to bring the country closer to 21st century socialism by

deepening grassroots or participatory democracy and by organizing the country's

state institutions more efficiently. Also, in one of the more controversial

changes, it would extend the president's term of office from six to seven years

and eliminate the two consecutive term limit on holding presidential office.

According to a recent opinion poll reported by Venezulea's

largest circulation paper Últimas

Noticias, 46.6% of Venezuelans believe that the reform is necessary, while

35.0% oppose it. Also, 72% of Venezuelans evaluate Chavez's job performance as

being good to excellent, versus 25% who evaluate it as being bad to terrible.