Chevez wins Venezuelan election to secure fourth term in office

President Chavez won the Venezuelan election in one of the highest voter turnouts in years with 54.42% of the votes compared with 44.97% for opposition candidate Henrique Capriles.

The National Electoral Council president, Tibisay Lucena, said 81% of the nearly 19 million registered voters cast ballots. Chavez won more than 7.4 million votes, beating Capriles by more than 1.2 million votes.

While addressing his supporters in front of the Miraflores Palace President Chavez thanked Venezuelans for their ongoing support and considered the election as a “perfect democratic battle on all fronts”. 

“Venezuela will continue its march toward the democratic socialism of the 21st century,” he said. “I commit to being a better president than I’ve been these past few years.”

Chavez’s presidential opponent Capriles accepted defeat and congratulated Chavez for his re-election victory.

“I send him my congratulations,” Capriles told supporters at his campaign headquarters, looking disappointed but saying he was proud of the large number of voters who turned out to cast their ballots for him.

Chavez will now continue another six year term though there is a chance of his cancer returning after the 58-year-old had to undergo long periods of treatment last year.

Alexander Clackson