President Hugo Chavez's left-wing government said on Friday Venezuela's people, including oil workers, would not accept his defeat in Sunday's referendum on his rule. The warning by Energy Minister Rafael Ramirez stoked fears that fanatical Chavez supporters, including state oil company employees and military commanders, could resist if the opposition prevailed in the poll on whether to recall the populist president. "There is no way he (Chavez) will be beaten. There is no way the people would accept it, including our oil workers," Ramirez told reporters. Chavez and the armed forces have pledged to respect the referendum result, whatever it is, when announced by electoral authorities, possibly late on Sunday, But the president Thursday also warned of a popular backlash if the opposition coalition recalled him and came to power in subsequent elections. The warnings revived the worst-case referendum scenario for the world's No. 5 oil exporter: a contested outcome triggering renewed turmoil like that of 2002 and 2003, triggered by a failed coup against Chavez and a crippling oil strike. Chavez, a former paratrooper who six years before winning the 1998 elections tried to seize power in a coup of his own, has purged the military and state oil firm PDVSA, converting them into bulwarks of his self-styled "revolution." --more 2312 Local Time 2012 GMT
