[b]President Hugo Chavez of Venezuela Wins Re-election

October 7, 2012

Chavez Wins Re-election, Electoral Council Says
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) — President Hugo Chavez won re-election on Sunday, defeating challenger Henrique Capriles, Venezuela's electoral council said.

With most votes counted, Chavez had more than 54 percent of the vote, and Capriles had 45 percent, National Electoral Council president Tibisay Lucena said. She said 81 percent of the nearly 19 million registered voters cast ballots.

It was Chavez's third re-election victory in nearly 14 years in office. The victory gives Chavez another six-year term to cement his legacy and press more forcefully for a transition to socialism in the country with the world's largest proven oil reserves.

Fireworks exploded in downtown Caracas, and Chavez's supporters celebrated waving flags and jumping for joy outside the presidential palace.

Chavez won more than 7.4 million votes, beating Capriles by more than 1.2 million votes, Lucena said. [/b]

President Hugo Chávez wins historic election in Venezuela

BY JIM WYSS

President Hugo Chávez was declared the winner late Sunday of a hotly contested election that threatened to undo more than a decade of Socialist policies.

The head of the The National Election Council, or CNE, announced after a day of heavy voting that Chávez had been reelected with 54.42 percent of the vote. Henrique Capriles, his chief rival, received 44.97 percent.

Before the vote was announced, both factions were touting exit polls that gave their candidates an edge.

Late Sunday, Capriles’ Campaign Manager Armando Briquet said he could not talk about election results but “there are enough reasons to be happy.”

Chávez’s campaign manager Jorge Rodríguez , also hinted at good news, calling the day “one of the most glorious pages in the history of Venezuela.”

Chávez, a 58-year old former military officer, has been in power since 1999 and used the nation’s oil wealth to promote socialist reforms and welfare programs that have made him a hero to the poor. He said he would use the additional six years to build more public housing, end unemployment and create 10 new public universities.

Capriles, 40, has pledged to bridge the country’s deep ideological divides and roll out Brazilian-style reforms that would jump-start the economy without leaving the poor behind.

Wearing a long-sleeve blue shirt, Chávez cast his vote in the working-class 23 de Enero neighborhood surrounded by family, cabinet members and international celebrities, including Hollywood’s Danny Glover and Nobel Peace Prize winner Rigoberta Menchú of Guatemala.



Amid speculation that Chávez might be reluctant to hand over power, the leader vowed to respect Sunday’s outcome.

“Whether it’s a one vote difference or 3 million votes, the responsible political actors must recognize the results,” he said. “Also, this is an electoral system that is absolutely transparent.”

Minutes later, Capriles cast his vote in the municipality of Baruta, where he was once mayor.

After pushing through a crowd of supporters and showing reporters his “lucky shoes” that have helped him win four consecutive elections, he also vowed to play by the rules.

“What the people say today is a sacred word,” Capriles said. “To know how to win, you also have to know how to lose.”

The words seemed to have a calming effect on a nation that often fretted that either side might not accept defeat. In the waning days of the campaign, Chávez had gone as far as to suggest that his loss might spark a civil war.

Carolina Haskour, 41, was wearing a shirt that read “You snooze you lose” and waiting at the Baruta polling station hoping to catch a glimpse of Capriles.

She said she voted for the former mayor, governor and legislator because she’s tired of the nation’s political polarization and soaring crime rate.

“I want the country to be what it was before,” she said. “There’s so much hate now. I want a country where we don’t fight with each other just because we have different political views.”

But others still see Chávez as the only person willing to fight for them.

“I am 82 years old and I can tell you we’ve never had a president as good as this,” said María Pinzón who lives in Antimano. “He’s made mistakes, but there’s no one else like him.”

On the campaign trail, Chávez highlighted his social programs and presented himself in his motto and jingles as the “heart of the nation.”

If that’s the case, then “I voted for a heart transplant,” said Jorge San Martin, a 48-year-old computer engineer. San Martin said he had to wait three hours due to voting-machine failures in his neighborhood, La Florida.

For many, the day kicked off at 3 a.m. when fireworks began popping over Caracas, followed later by sound-trucks playing reveille. Chávez had told supporters to rise early to assure his victory before noon.

At several voting centers, groups of pro-government motorcycle drivers, known as motorizados, honked their horns and popped wheelies. Many feared these groups might stir up trouble or disrupt the vote.

But as of 7 p.m., Gen. Wilmer Barrientos, who is in charge of election security, said it was a largely peaceful event with no major incidents to report.

Even so, Capriles campaign officials asked the military to control the gangs Sunday night.

“Please restrict these bands of motorcyclists,” Briquet, the campaign manager, asked the military, “because we want a night that was like our day — peaceful.”

At a polling station in Caricuao, a group of Chávez supporters huddled under a red tent and kept a list of everyone in their community who had voted. The effort is part of the administration’s plan to minimize abstention, which tends to hurt the ruling party.

“We’re seeing a massive turnout,” said Tania Peña, one of the organizers. “We’re here because we want socialism, equality and all the social missions.”

At the technical school where Chávez cast his vote, the walls are covered in pictures of the young president and Karl Marx. It also has a quote from Latin American liberator Simon Bolivar scrawled on one wall that might apply to either candidate.

“You can lose all of the battles,” it reads, “except for the last one.”

El Nuevo Herald staff writer Juan Tamayo contributed to this report from Caracas.

So people still do socialism, in the 21st century?

Well good luck Venezuela, but remember that there's more to an economy than oil. Case in point: Nigeria.

HNosegbe: So people still do socialism, in the 21st century?

Well good luck Venezuela, but remember that there's more to an economy than oil. Case in point: Nigeria.

The Meaning of 21st Century Socialism for Venezuela

http://venezuelanalysis.com/analysis/1834


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