CARACAS - Venezuelans voted in a tightly contested referendum on Sunday on whether to allow left-wing President Hugo Chavez to stay in power for as long as he keeps winning elections or hand him his first defeat at the polls.
The anti-Washington firebrand, who has easily won one election after another against a fragmented opposition, is in the hardest campaign of his life as he moves to deepen his self-styled revolution by reforming the constitution.
He predicts he will win by 10 percentage points but most polls show a neck-and-neck race between backers of the referendum, which Chavez says will usher in "21st century socialism," and those who call it an assault on democracy.
Voters were awakened by a predawn state-ordered bugle call mixed with sirens and fake cannon fire to prompt them to head out to their polling stations.
With campaigning marred by violence, many Venezuelans fear political turbulence in the OPEC member nation if the losing side refuses to accept the results of Sunday's vote. But early voting appeared to be orderly and under sunny skies.
Faced with concerns from even moderate supporters that the reforms will give Chavez too much power, he has tried to portray the vote as a plebiscite on his rule.
Government worker Yelitza Rodriguez, 37, told Reuters she voted for the referendum as a step toward creating a more equal society, despite her misgivings about indefinite reelection.
"Most of the reform favours the people," she said.
Chavez, a former paratrooper who has led Venezuela since 1999 and is a close ally of Cuba and Iran, also has escalated his verbal attacks on the U.S. government and opponents at home to rally followers behind him.
"Whoever votes 'Yes' is voting for Chavez and whoever votes 'No' is voting for George W. Bush, president of the United States," Chavez told supporters at a massive rally in Caracas on Friday.
