Hugo Chavez re-elected to another 6-year term in Venezuela

Monday, October 08, 2012
Hugo Chavez re-elected as president to extend socialist rule
for another six years [File Photo]
Caracas: Venezuela's socialist President Hugo Chavez won the country’s crucial poll on Sunday and re-elected for fourth term after defeating his political rival Henrique Capriles.

Mr. Chavez won 54.42 percent of the vote, while Henrique Capriles, the unified opposition candidate, received 44.97 per cent, the country's electoral council announced.   

With this win Mr. Chavez emerged as a dominant figure in modern Latin American history, as the election result bring his total years in office to 20.

The results would secure Mr. Chavez another six-year mandate, taking his term of office through 2019.
“Thanks to my beloved people,” Mr. Chavez tweeted soon after the results were made public.

Chavez’s supporter celebrated the triumph with exhilaration across the capital.

Few Jubilant supporters held impromptu street parties in central Caracas, blaring horns and waving flags.
Opposition candidate Henrique Capriles acknowledged the election win of Mr. Chavez.

“To know how to win, you need to know how to lose,” Capriles told supporters at his campaign headquarters. “I want to congratulate the candidate, the President,” he said.

With Venezuela sitting on the world's largest oil reserves and Chávez a leading figure in the resurgence of the political left in Latin America,  Chavez victory will have an impact on the global economy, energy supplies and regional geopolitics.

Mr. Chavez may get a free hand to push for an even bigger state role in the economy.
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