Although they fell short of the two-thirds majority in the legislature that would in effect allow him to rule by decree, Chavez supporters still make up 60 percent of the congress.

Michael Shifter said that Machado was a future presidential contender "who can effectively communicate a vision for a post-Chavez Venezuela that can appeal to enough Chavez supporters."

A series of governments has nourished stability, but little more, say Chavez supporters.

"I'm going to vote yes because I want to give the people's president the tools he needs to govern," said Gumersindo Alvarez Montilla, a Chavez supporter who was handing out copies of the document at a subway stop here.

Furious, some Chavez supporters have responded by pressing for a new, tougher decree that would formally dissolve Congress.

Furthermore, Chavez supporters claimed that the states with the highest murder rates were controlled by the opposition.

Much of the council's technical staff has also been replaced with Chavez supporters, leaving his opponents with the impression that the problems stem not from a lack of competence or experience but from a deliberate effort to rob them of votes.

This contributed to a polarization such that for a time reporters were regularly attacked in the street by Chavez supporters with bottles and sticks.

About 500 Chavez supporters, many of them Hispanic fight fans, showed up yesterday to cheer on Chavez in his appearance at Riverbank State Park at Riverside Drive and West 145th Street.

The next day, when demonstrators peacefully assembled to protest the results, and demand a recount, they were attacked by rifle-bearing Chavez supporters.