Famous Names Speak Up for Chavez in Venezuela Poll

Writers, politicians and film-makers from more than a dozen countries have offered their support to the Venezuelan president, Hugo Chavez, who faces a referendum this month on his future.

The group have signed a manifesto saying that, if they were Venezuelan, they would vote for Chavez in what will be a volatile contest. The manifesto is being launched as opponents of Mr Chavez claim he has "kidnapped" the electoral council responsible for overseeing the vote.

Signatories include the Argentinian Nobel peace prize winner Adolfo Perez, the Uruguayan writer Eduardo Galeano, the musician Chico Buarque and the architect Niemeyer, both from Brazil, and British film-makers Ken Loach, Alex Cox and Mike Hodges, writers Harold Pinter and Eric Hobsbawm and politicians Tony Benn and Ken Livingstone.

In their manifesto, aimed at garnering international support for Mr Chavez, the signatories say they "wish to express our solidarity with the struggle that, alongside President Hugo Chavez, the majority of the Venezuelan people are waging in defence of their right to freely determine their future.

"At the same time, we wish to denounce the disinformation campaign that is being orchestrated by the major media and that attempts to characterise as a tyrant, a president who has consistently respected the rule of law and the country's constitution."

The leftwing former army officer was elected with a landslide victory in 1998. He has since faced many attempts to unseat him, from a short-lived military coup in 2002 to a lengthy national strike. Opposition leaders have accused him of behaving in an autocratic way, of seriously damaging the economy and of wanting to turn the country into another Cuba. His supporters claim the US has been undermining his government because of his anti-Iraq war stance and fears of disruption to oil supplies from the world's fifth largest exporter.

The referendum is taking place after more than 2 million people signed a petition to submit the president to a recall vote.

The pro-Chavez signatories ask in their manifesto: "How many heads of state would have the courage to put their popularity to the test before finishing their term?

"Hugo Chavez has demonstrated this courage and has thus given a democratic lesson to the sectors of the Venezuelan opposition that have, in the past, resorted to coup d'états, economic sabotage, lies and managerial lockouts in an attempt to undermine the country's constitutional order."

The referendum is still due on August 15 despite problems with voter registration.

Both sides have accused each other of irregularities and attempting to manipulate the process, which will be attended by international observers in the form of a mission set up by the Organisation of American States and the former US president Jimmy Carter.