"Today a new cycle of the
Bolivarian government begins," he told a crowd of cheering supporters
after election results were announced. "I promise to be a better
president every day."
Chavez won more than 54%
of the vote to defeat Henrique Capriles Radonski in Sunday's closely
watched election. It was the fourth presidential election victory for
Chavez, who has been in office since 1999.
Venezuela's presidential vote
Chavez's reign continues in Venezuela
Hugo Chavez claims victory
Chavez challenger: 'Do not feel defeated'
After Chavez's triumph,
the answers to key questions about the South American's future were
unclear: Will opposition forces lose momentum or gain strength after
Sunday's defeat? Will Chavez's health affect his ability to govern? And
who could succeed him within his powerful political movement?
Chavez's vision of 21st
century socialism emphasizes the use of state oil windfalls to fund
social programs. On the campaign trail, he pointed to accomplishments in
housing, education and health initiatives and acknowledged he needs to
do more on crime and government bureaucracy.
The ebullient leader is
58 years old and has been visibly weakened by two surgeries for cancer.
He has kept secret the kind of cancer he has and his prognosis.
In May, speculation
intensified over who would succeed Chavez when he named 10 people to the
highest circle of advisers to the president. But in July, he said he
was cancer free.
Chavez's victory gives
him "the opportunity to consolidate his policies" and also reaffirms the
approach his government has taken to international relations, said
Miguel Tinker Salas, a Latin American history professor at Pomona
College in California.
Chavez's influence over
Latin America's left-leaning governments has often rankled the United
States, Venezuela's largest trading partner. Venezuela is the
fourth-largest exporter of oil to the United States.
Despite that tight
economic relationship, the two countries are far from close: Chavez
often rails against the United States and its allies as "imperialists"
and has supported controversial world leaders such as President Mahmoud
Ahmadinejad of Iran.
The election result
Sunday means the U.S. government will have to continue to deal with
Chavez's provocatively independent brand of diplomacy.
"I think Washington will
have to start getting used to the fact that countries in Latin America,
especially South America, are charting their own course," said Tinker
Salas.
In a triumphant speech
from the balcony of the presidential palace Sunday, Chavez described his
election victory as "a perfect battle, and totally democratic."
Fireworks peppered the sky over Caracas after the provisional results were announced.
"Today we have
demonstrated -- comrades, compatriots -- that our democracy is one of
the best in the world," Chavez told thousands of supporters who cheered
and waved flags.
He thanked those who had voted for him and acknowledged those who had voted against him, applauding their "democratic attitude."
Observers had said
Capriles, 40, represented a moderate alternative to Chavez, the
charismatic standard-bearer of the Latin American left. Capriles had
vowed not to end the social programs that Chavez had set up, and he had
promised to fight corruption that had grown in the public sector.
He appeared to have
mounted one of the strongest challenges so far in Chavez's 13 years in
power. But his efforts ultimately proved insufficient to unseat the
incumbent.
With 90% of the ballots
counted, Chavez had more than 54% of votes, with nearly 45% for
Capriles, Venezuela's National Electoral Council said Sunday night.
Chavez had secured 7.4 million votes and Capriles 6.1 million votes, election officials said.
Capriles' supporters
made a significant showing, bringing the opposition candidate the
closest any presidential election opponent has come to defeating Chavez.
But the high turnout wasn't enough to win for Capriles' campaign, which
had criticized the Chavez administration for inefficiencies,
infrastructure shortcomings and corruption.
"We began the
construction of a path," the opposition coalition candidate told
supporters after conceding his defeat. Capriles congratulated Chavez on
his victory and urged him to take into account the different views
expressed by voters.
"Being a good president means working for the vision of all Venezuelans," he said.
The opposition will now
have to try to maintain a unified front for regional elections scheduled
to take place in December, Tinker Salas said. That may prove difficult,
he said, since "the one thing that brought them together was the figure
of Chavez."
"There was great
sadness," said journalist Alberto Echegaray, who watched as the results
were announced at Capriles' campaign headquarters Sunday night, "but on
the other hand happiness, because we have 6 million votes in Venezuela,
we have a new leader in the region who is only 40 years old, and really,
we are prepared to continue forward with the proposal we have."
The country saw one of
its high participation rates in decades Sunday, with almost 81% of
voters going to the polls, according to Tibisay Lucena, president of the
National Electoral Council.
In fact, some polling
places were kept open two hours after their scheduled closing because of
lines of voters waiting for ballots.
Nearly 140,000 troops were deployed throughout the country to guard polling places and keep the peace, state-run VTV reported.
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