Chavez wins third re-election in tightest race yet

[Teh One Who Knocks]

By FRANK BAJAK and IAN JAMES | Associated Press




CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) — President Hugo Chavez won re-election and a new endorsement of his socialist project Sunday, surviving his closest race yet after a bitter campaign in which the opposition accused him of unfairly using Venezuela's oil wealth and his near total control of state institutions to his advantage.

A long wait for the results produced high tensions, including a Twitter hashtag called BitingNails that became the most popular in the country. Finally, fireworks exploded over downtown Caracas amid a cacophony of horn-honking by elated Chavez supporters waving flags and jumping for joy outside the presidential palace.

With 90 percent of votes counted, Chavez had more than 54 percent of the vote to 45 percent for challenger Henrique Capriles, an athletic 40-year-old former state governor who unified and energized the opposition while barnstorming across the oil-exporting nation.

But Capriles' promises to seriously address violent crime that has spun out of control, streamline a patronage-bloated bureaucracy and end rampant corruption proved inadequate against Chavez's charisma, well-oiled political machine and a legacy of putting Venezuela's poor first with generous social welfare programs.

Chavez rallied thousands of supporters from a balcony of the presidential palace, holding up a sword that once belonged to 19th century independence hero Simon Bolivar.

"The revolution has triumphed!" Chavez told the crowd, saying his supporters "voted for socialism."

The crowd responded chanting "Chavez won't go!"

Chavez will now have a freer hand to push for an even bigger state role in the economy and continue populist programs. He pledged before the vote to make a stronger push for socialism in the next term. He's also likely to further limit dissent and deepen friendships with U.S. rivals.

A Capriles victory would have brought a radical foreign policy shift including a halt to preferential oil deals with allies such as Cuba, along with a loosening of state economic controls and an increase in private investment.

It was Chavez's third re-election in nearly 14 years in office. It was also his smallest victory margin. In 2006, he won by 27 percentage points.

"I can't describe the relief and happiness I feel right now," said Edgar Gonzalez, a 38-year-old construction worker.

He ran through crowds of Chavez supporters packing the streets around the presidential palace wearing a Venezuelan flag as a cape and yelling: "Oh, no! Chavez won't go!"

"The revolution will continue, thanks to God and the people of this great country," said Gonzalez.

Voter turnout was an impressive 81 percent, compared to 75 percent in 2006. Chavez paid close attention to his military-like get-out-the-vote organization at the grass roots, stressing its importance at campaign rallies. The opposition said he unfairly plowed millions in state funds into the effort.

Chavez spent heavily in the months before the vote, building public housing and bankrolling expanded social programs.

"I think he just cranked up the patronage machine and unleashed a spending orgy," said Michael Shifter, president of the Washington-based Inter-American Dialogue think tank.

But Shifter also didn't deny the affinity and gratefulness Venezuela's poor feel for Chavez. "Despite his illness, I still think he retains a large emotional connection with a lot of Venezuelans that I think were not prepared to vote against him."

Chavez spoke little during the campaign about his fight with cancer, which since June 2011 has included surgery to remove tumors from his pelvic region as well as chemotherapy and radiation treatment. He has said his most recent tests showed no sign of illness.

Capriles told supporters not to feel defeated.

"We have planted many seeds across Venezuela and I know that these seeds are going to produce many trees," he told a hall of supporters.

Despite winning a February primary that unified the opposition, Capriles proved no match for Chavez's electoral prowess.

David Valencia, a 20-year-old Capriles supporter, said he was disappointed but that he hadn't lost hope despite the loss.

"There is still a sense in our hearts of wanting a better country," he said.

One pro-Chavez voter, private bodyguard Carlos Julio Silva, said that whatever his faults, Chavez deserved to win for spreading the nation's oil wealth to the poor with free medical care, public housing and other government programs. The country has the world's largest proven oil reserves.

"There is corruption, there's plenty of bureaucracy, but the people have never had a leader who cared about this country," Silva said after voting for Chavez at a school in the Caracas slum of Petare.

At many polling places, voters began lining up hours before polls opened at dawn, some snaking for blocks in the baking Caribbean sun. Some shaded themselves with umbrellas. Vendors grilled meat and some people drank beer.

Chavez's critics say the president has inflamed divisions by labeling his opponents "fascists," ''Yankees" and "neo-Nazis," and it's likely hard for many of his opponents to stomach another six years of the loquacious and conflictive leader.

Some said before the vote that they'd consider leaving the country if Chavez won.

Gino Caso, an auto mechanic, said Chavez is power-hungry and out of touch with problems such as crime. He said his son had been robbed, as had neighboring shops.

"I don't know what planet he lives on," Caso said, gesturing with hands blackened with grease. "He wants to be like Fidel Castro — end up with everything, take control of the country."

[FBD]

easy to win elections when you're the one counting the votes. I put my money on election fraud.

[Teh One Who Knocks]

By the CNN Wire Staff


Caracas, Venezuela (CNN) -- Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez has secured six more years in office after defeating his opponent in a closely watched presidential election that both candidates described as a historic vote.

Chavez, who has been president since 1999, overcame an energetic challenge from opposition candidate Henrique Capriles Radonski, according to results released late Sunday.

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 said in a speech from the balcony of the presidential palace to 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."

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. It was a significant showing -- but not 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.

Chavez has had more than a decade to implement his vision of 21st century socialism, a view that emphasizes the use of state oil windfalls to fund social programs. During his campaign, he highlighted his accomplishments in housing, education and health initiatives and acknowledged he needed 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.

His 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 allies: Chavez often rails against the United States and its allies as "imperialists" and has supported controversial world leaders like 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.

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.

Capriles is a high-profile conservative who was a mayor, a parliament member and governor of Miranda, which adjoins the nation's capital. The attorney-turned-politician had been so active on the campaign trial that he earned the nicknamed the "roadrunner."

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.

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."

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 polls were kept open two hours after their scheduled closing because of lines of voters waiting for ballots.

The army was deployed around the country throughout the day to ensure a peaceful and secure vote, said Maj. Gen. Wilmer Barrientos, commander of strategic operations command.

Nearly 140,000 troops were deployed throughout the country to guard polls and keep the peace, state-run VTV reported.

In a phone call aired on state-run television earlier in the evening, Chavez had asked people to remain calm until the election results were completed and for there to be no violence.

Long lines began forming early in the morning at polling stations from remote regions of the Amazon to the bustling capital of Caracas.

By mid-afternoon, Barrientos reported 15 electoral offenses throughout the entire country, the Venezuelan military said on its Twitter account. No further details were immediately available.

The election also drew voters from beyond the country's borders as thousands of Venezuelans living abroad lined up to cast their ballots at diplomatic offices.

In New Orleans, Louisiana, voters streamed into the Venezuelan Consulate. Many traveled by bus from Miami, where Venezuelan authorities closed a consulate in January after the United States expelled the office's top Venezuelan diplomat.

In Caracas, voters said they were happy to be casting their ballots.

"I'm really proud of the people, because everyone is cheerful about this event and I think there is a good feeling," said Jesus Betancourt, a 25-year-old student.

Standing outside the Caracas school where Chavez cast his ballot, Katherene Rivas said she hoped Venezuelans would respect the results.

"For now, everything is quiet here, and we want that after the results are announced, that people remain calm," she said.

[FBD]

so what happens when teh cancer finally gets 'ol mumpface?

[FBD]

reeeeal surprising...


http://freevenezuela.org/exit-poll-s...spect-results/

Exit Poll Shows Capriles in the Lead, Chavez Says He’ll Respect Results

According to an initial exit poll from the Varianzas agency, Henrique Capriles has won 52.6 percent of the vote against 47.4 percent for Hugo Chavez.

Now, we often hear that polling companies in Venezuela are either notoriously unreliable or hopelessly biased. Does this apply to Varianzas? Daniel Duquenal, one of Venezuela’s leading dissident bloggers – and a sharp-tongued critic of most opinion polls – had this to say about the company in a post about a September poll conducted by Varianzas, which placed Chavez two points ahead of Capriles






Chávez called on all political actors to remain calm. “Let’s not despair,” he said, adding that the National Electoral Council, in his opinion, has made “a flawless work.”

[Teh One Who Knocks]

reeeeal surprising...


http://freevenezuela.org/exit-poll-s...spect-results/

Exit Poll Shows Capriles in the Lead, Chavez Says He’ll Respect Results

According to an initial exit poll from the Varianzas agency, Henrique Capriles has won 52.6 percent of the vote against 47.4 percent for Hugo Chavez.

Now, we often hear that polling companies in Venezuela are either notoriously unreliable or hopelessly biased. Does this apply to Varianzas? Daniel Duquenal, one of Venezuela’s leading dissident bloggers – and a sharp-tongued critic of most opinion polls – had this to say about the company in a post about a September poll conducted by Varianzas, which placed Chavez two points ahead of Capriles:

Didn't you read the headline from the 2nd story?

Re-elected Chavez: 'Our democracy is one of the best'

[PorkChopSandwiches]

Democracy It sounds about like how our elections work