who declared that the political situation in Venezuela represents "the single most important test of democracy in the America." He further reinforced that the United States has a "tremendous interest" in what happens in Venezuela and asserted that the presence of international observers during the August 15th Recall Referendum process will play a key role in ensuring credibility and transparency and respect for the results. Following Coleman’s opening comments, Senator Bill Nelson of Florida, who recently has made very critical and severe statements against the Chavez Administration, once again accused the Venezuelan government of supporting and harboring Colombian guerrilla groups. Senator Nelson additionally charged President Chavez with making statements "praising Iraqi insurgents that attack American soldiers" and "using his oil as leverage against small nations in the Caribbean"McCoy, who has been the leading Carter Center representative in Venezuela during the past year, pointed out that after a recent presentation from Smartmatic, the company contracted to provide electronic voting machines for the upcoming referendum, she and her colleagues were "very impressed" with the security measures and the functioning of the machines. She additionally disputed Senator’s Nelson’s comments about reports of identification cards belonging to opposition members being confiscated by military forces in Venezuela to prevent them from voting, and stated that the Carter Center has not had any reports at all about such confiscations.

Carter Center's Jennifer McCoy said that she and her colleagues were "very impressed" with the security measures and the functioning of Venezuela's new voting machines.Credit: Jeremy Bigwood

Venezuela could teach Florida a lesson about