Sign in. It’s quick, free and it’s up to you.
An account is an optional way to support the work we do. Find out more.
VENEZUELAN PRESIDENT HUGO Chavez shrugged off cancer and a unified opposition to triumph yet again at the ballot box and claim another six-year mandate to pursue his oil-funded socialist revolution.
Yesterday’s election proved a sterner test than previous elections in Chavez’s 14-year tenure, but the bombastic anti-American leftist emerged victorious again despite health scares, growing discontent and a strong opposition challenge.
With nearly all the votes counted, Chavez had 7,731,972, or 54.66 per cent, compared to 6,327,429, or 44.73 per cent, for his youthful opponent, former Miranda state governor Henrique Capriles.
Addressing thousands of cheering supporters from the balcony of his Miraflores presidential residence, Chavez sang the national anthem and vowed to be a better president.
“Viva Venezuela! Viva the fatherland!” exulted the leftist leader. “The battle was perfect and the victory was perfect.”
“I want to include everybody, including sectors of the opposition,” the 58-year-old Chavez, wearing his trademark red shirt, said in a tacit acceptance of the best electoral showing against him yet.
Chavez waves the flag of Venezuela on the balcony of the Miraflores Palace (AP Photo/Fernando Llano)
But, brandishing the sword of his 19th century idol, independence hero Simon Bolivar, he pledged to press ahead with a socialist revolution that has antagonised opponents, both at home and abroad.
“Venezuela will continue its march toward the democratic socialism of the 21st century,” he said.
Chavez declared himself free of cancer in July and intensified his campaign this past week, holding rallies across the country, even dancing and singing in the rain before hundreds of thousands of supporters on Thursday.
In his victory speech, he alluded only briefly to his cancer battle. ”Today was a memorable day,” he said. “I thank God and ask him life and health to keep serving the Venezuelan people.”
Chavez’s rival, 40-year-old Capriles, was gracious in defeat, saying: “I accept and respect the decision of the people.”
But it was a bitter pill for many in the divided country to swallow. Some 200 Capriles supporters, many in tears and disbelief, massed outside his campaign headquarters.
“I am disappointed, devastated,” Daniela Torrealba, 33, told AFP. Chavez’s victory means six more years of “uncertainty and stagnation,” he said.
Election experts said the electronic voting system was reliable, but suspicions ran high that whoever lost would not concede defeat.
Capriles appeared to put those fears to rest, accepting the result in good faith after an earlier call for calm.
“To know how to win, you have to know how to lose,” he said at his campaign headquarters. “For me, what the people say is sacred.”
The fate of Chavez, a fierce US critic and the leading voice of Latin America’s left, was closely watched by communist ally Cuba, which heavily depends on Venezuela’s oil, and other regional partners.
YouTube: AssociatedPress
“Viva Venezuela, viva the great fatherland, viva the Bolivarian Revolution!” leftist Ecuadoran President Rafael Correa tweeted, in words echoed by Bolivian leader Evo Morales and Argentina’s Cristina Kirchner.
Capriles had surged in opinion polls during the campaign as he attracted huge rallies with promises to curb runaway crime and unite the polarised South American country.
Weakened by his bout with cancer, Chavez stepped up campaigning in the last week of the race, warning that Capriles would undo his popular social “missions” for the poor.
Sitting on the world’s biggest proven crude oil deposits, Chavez has used petro-dollars to build a network of regional allies and secure the loyalty of poor Venezuelans dependent on the generosity of his social programs.
The opposition had accused Chavez of misusing public funds for his campaign and dominating the airwaves while forcing government workers to attend rallies through intimidation.
Capriles had hammered the president over the country’s regular power outages, food shortages and runaway murder rate, which has risen to 50 homicides per 100,000 inhabitants.
Opposition challenger Henrique Capriles concedes the election (AP Photo/Ariana Cubillos)
The indefatigable Chavez rose to prominence in 1992 when he led a failed coup against then-president Carlos Andres Perez. On leaving prison two years later he embarked on a political career, peppering rousing speeches with Biblical quotes and from Bolivar.
Elected Venezuela’s youngest president in 1998, at the age of just 44, Chavez set about reforming the constitution and reducing the powers of Congress, easily winning the ensuing 2000 election.
Despite consolidating power, redistributing land and nationalizing the PDVSA oil behemoth to foster his social programs, the economy was in turmoil and Chavez was briefly ousted in a 2002 coup by business leaders. Popular protests saw him reinstated two days later.
A 2004 attempt by the opposition to oust Chavez in a recall referendum was defeated by popular vote.
Elected to a second six-year term in 2006, Chavez then won a 2009 referendum that abolished the two-term limit and enabled him to run indefinitely.
If he lasts until the end of this term, Chavez will have served 20 years as Venezuelan leader.
To embed this post, copy the code below on your site
The yanks are going to love this news
Yup! The US backed regime that brought in a law that made it illegal for people to collect rain water in bolivia. After a US company were sold the rights to control the countries entire water supply. The same company was in the process of controlling the water supply in venezuela when chavez came to power. Both countries now control their own water supply which provided free to all. And the US call him a dictator.
Great news. Long live the revolution. Long live Chavez. Venezuela is and will be a million times better off.
So what are you still here!? Why haven’t you relocated to this socialist utopia long ago?
What is democracy Declan the one with the most money gets into the white house only to fcuk over the American people and cut taxes for their buddies
Phew Hugo that was close. Good job you had all those opposition voters in jail.
John Byrne, once again you don’t know which way I will vote but I will tell you. I vote democrat, I voted for obama and I will so again. So don’t f%#^}*!~ tell me that I’m voting for the person with the most money. That’s horse shite. You, petr, and b Lowe should set sail for Venezuela, Cuba, north korea, syria or anyway else where you think it’s a utopia and tell us how you get on.
Spot on Jim I’ve been to Venezuela he has done so much for the poor . The people on here bashing him have no clue just regurgitating right wing propaganda .
Declan , Aaron and Ross can’t wait to hear your comments on this , I suppose the Venezuelans don’t know what’s good for them .
He has replaced good qualified people with his cronies who have destroyed the country’s infrastructure. That’s not socialism, that’s corruption. Pure & simple.
At least they are his cronies and not Americas cronies.
John, are you talking about me? Listen by the end of this term, he will have been in power 20 years. That’s not democracy. Anyway he got 54% of the vote so that leaves the other 46%. Is he going to reach out to those people?
Declan
The public voted to end term limits. He has been democratically elected several times. Your inclination to question is democratic mandate doesn’t say much for your own commitment to the will of the majority!
Petr, fair enough but I’m sure you would be critical of the Americans if they got rid of term limits for presidents. Btw I hope your not thinking of bringing this kind of democracy to the country I was born in and that is Ireland. I’m still a Irish citizen. My grandfather fought for Irish independence so you can f#%< off with your Marxist shite talk!!!!
And btw petr just remember in any country you have to think about the minority as well. Minority rights have to be protected as well. Do you get it?
The Fine Gael Mafia Master-plan works like this:
- Give tax breaks to corporations and the wealthy ;
- Tax the ordinary Irish people;
- Then launder the proceeds to the bondholders;
- Then blame the ECB.
What has this got to do with Venezuelan elections?
Enda and co should travel to Venezuela and learn how to look after the poor in society and stop giving the wealth to their cronies and the banks who don’t need it
A dictator that supports free elections? Strange and confusing. I’d better go back and listen to Fox News, the real world is too difficult to understand.
so Enda and Co are not dictators then,, did they not take money off you to pay speculators in the banks, and did they sell our oilwells for a fraction of what their worth, or unlike chevez, did they give you land in which you could farm and look after yourself, just to mention a few,, its time to stand back and see who the real dictators are here
Chavez is the Mugabe of Latin America.
@reginald have you been to Venezuela have you seen what he has done for the poor have you spoken to the poor about how much their lives have improved under his rule ?
you should watch this reginald , a documentary filmed by 2 Irish lads in 2002 and it shows you what he’s up against ,, well worth watching. viva chavez.. http://youtu.be/M9Nt_WXruKg
‘Anti-American Leftist’… He is American, i guess they were trying to refer to the US.
Uh ah, Chávez no se va! Ádh mór air arís!
In the14 yrs Chavez has been President, violent murders have increased dramatically.. There are around 52 violent murders a day in Venezuela. Which makes it one of the most dangerous countries in the world.. 6 more years of extreme violence.
Every country has its problems. He’s not perfect but he’s still got a hell of a track record and managed to pull over half the Country out of extreme poverty. The people have rewarded him with their voice and their pen, again.
This is democracy. Viva Chavez!
” oil funded revolution” ?
Could we not do that here as well?
I feel your pain my friends. Six more years of the tomato-jacket bully at the helm, that’s a very long time. Marjorie flew to Madrid this weekend to vote, and I know many of you Venezuelans living abroad made the effort as well, and the man still gets almost 55%. Good man Capriles for not kicking a fuss about the results. He knows he’ll get him next time.
Er..David..may be the ones voting for him are those who cannot aford to flit in and out of the country every time there is an election…just like their money.
You have a point Damien. But voting Chavez again will not buy them a flight ticket.
There’s a lot of misinformation about Venezuela, and I’m misinformed too as all the Venezuelans I know are against Chavez. I’m sure the man has done great things, and I agree that in an oil-rich country, nobody should be left behind; that the resource which was not created but just happened to be there be used for the common good instead.
However, Chavez has made a mess of his country. Just take violence: if he has done so much for the poor, how come the murder rate has shot up? When I’m in Caracas in my in-laws’ car, an old Civic from the 90s, they roll up the windows approaching red lights. Doors are locked, of course. I read many times that poverty leads to violence, which I can understand. So why is crime spiralling up then?
The Venezuelans I met who still live over there, some with money, some not, are fed up with that and so many other things. I wish we had comments from Venezuelans to counterbalance all the “viva Chavez” opinions.
Well, David, the general pattern seems to be that elections are actually less corrupt than pre-Chavez. His narrow margin may even confirm that.
The opposition candidate accepted the result. Meantime..would you say if it were not for emigration we might be geting higher violence rates here?Already gangland murders(mainly because of US style abandonment of drug-regulation to criminals with a ‘just-label-it-forbidden-fruit’ policy) are rampant.
I believe its not wise to leave your doors open or windows down in many parts of our cities; and country villages have their share of vicious attacks.
Not sure thats Hugo’s fault. My own preferences would be for a Scandanavian lateral social model with exteremes outlawed. I think thats more ar less what Chavez is struggling towards, against considerable internal and external opposition from the gluttons.
It wasn’t my intention to imply that the elections had been rigged, Damien. Sorry if it sounded like that. I believe he won fair and square. I was just dumbfounded that he managed to get elected again.
As for violence here, I don’t believe it would be higher if so many Irish people had not emigrated. It seems to me the ones moving to greener pastures are not the kind that would get into violent criminal activities if they had stayed. The skangers plaguing this country are not people with skills in high demand in Canada, Australia or wherever. Actually, emigration may increase the crime rate: if the number of crimes remains the same and there are less people in Ireland, you have a higher rate.
Is the frightening murder rate Chavez’ fault? It would be foolish to blame it all on him but he certainly has a good share of the responsibility. It’s not as if he had been in power only a few years.
Where we might differ David(I write as a circulating emigrant since the late sixties)is that I see this enforced emigrating as a violence done by the skangers of speculative white-collar respectability, in whose silver-tongued mouths butter mountains never melted.
And I’m not sure the penal history of Britain’s, or other prison populations, would bear out your surmise regarding the divisions. I can remember the Irish under Charing Cross bridge in the ’70s, not criminals, but not the beneficiaries of Clongowes or Trinners special preparation and introduction to thje global networks that control the economic golden circles. They are not closed circles, entirely, but they are exclusive, and self-maintaining. Thats why some don’t have to ever consider the boat.
chavez is a legend!!!!
Always the same people on here backing the elites and putting down people trying to make a real change , be it protestors or a socialist leader like Chavez . Maybe some of you should go to the barrios of caracas and see what he has done for yourselves instead of eating up mainstream media horsesh1t and regurgitating over the Internet from behind your computer screen . Viva la revolucion . Viva Chavez
@cian and your speaking from some sort experience I take it or just talkin sh1t as usual
One of my aunties fled Venezuela for the states because of the horrors of the Chavez regime, there are thousands like her. If Venezuela is such a great country and Chavez such a wonderful leader then why don’t you clowns leave Ireland and go and join his “socialist revolution”?
Cian. How many thousands have fled Ireland in the last couple of years and probably thousands more to follow because of our corrupt parasitic government really you should put more thought into your comments !!
@Grainne *yawn* I’ll repeat my question for a third time now if Ireland is so shitty and Venezula so great what’s keeping you here under Enda & Eamon’s “fascist” rule?
So..if you don’t like the mess we make of your country …phukk off..is that your recipe Cian?
@ Damien, no thats not what im suggesting, people on here are celebrating Chavez and what a great job he has done in Venezuela at the same time deriding Enda Kenny as a useless dictator who is ruining this country so I would like to know why those people arent fleeing the perils of Enda Kenny’s fascist dictatorship for the paradise of Hugo Chavez’s Venezulan Socialist Revolution?
For starters I’ll agree that Edna is not a dictator…more an implementer of FF policies..i.e. Ibec/US Chamber business as usual. A slightly more wooden actor/puppet.
For seconds…maybe people feel they have a right to be cheesed off at this fact, and vent anger however incoherently, without being shown the boat by those too smug or lazy to bother examining what went wrong with our hijacked democracy.
@Cian ,Maybe your not aware of current events in this country but people ARE leaving by the thousands each month to avoid Enda’s puppet government and the Bank controlled country we live in, the question is not to leave Ireland but copy Venezeula and turf out your kind.
If u want to know about rigged ballots you should speak to the bush family they’re pretty good at it
I have a lot of admiration for Chavez and I’m glad there are countries out there showing a successful alternative to dog-eat-dog devil-take-the-hindmost American capitalism. It’s just very sad that he foolishly support the Fascist dictatorship in Syria. There’s no excuse for such wilful blindness.
Viva Chavez!, screw all the right, center-right begrudgers
Wow what a shock if only the election was free and fair without rigged ballots and voter intimidation the man is a tyrant.
You have evidence for that rant, Cian?
Or are you just dictating your speculative prejudices?
If a couple of thousand well off white folk have to flee so millions of indigineous can have a better life I would say that’s acceptable
From the guardian:
Here is what Jimmy Carter said about Venezuela’s “dictatorship” a few weeks ago: “As a matter of fact, of the 92 elections that we’ve monitored, I would say that the election process in Venezuela is the best in the world.”
Carter won a Nobel prize for his work through the election-monitoring Carter Center, which has observed and certified past Venezuelan elections. But because Washington has sought for more than a decade to delegitimise Venezuela’s government, his viewpoint is only rarely reported. His latest comments went unreported in almost all of the US media.
In Venezuela, voters touch a computer screen to cast their vote and then receive a paper receipt, which they verify and deposit in a ballot box. Most of the paper ballots are compared with the electronic tally. This system makes vote-rigging nearly impossible: to steal the vote would require hacking the computers and then stuffing the ballot boxes to match the rigged vote.
Unlike in the US, where in a close vote we really have no idea who won (see Bush v Gore), Venezuelans can be sure that their vote counts. And also unlike the US, where as many as 90 million eligible voters will not vote in November, the government in Venezuela has done everything to increase voter registration (now at a record of about 97%) and participation.
I’ve been there twice cian and I’m going back in January , I guess your aunty was pretty well off there being part of the white upper class .
Did she leave in first class on a plane cian or make the arduous journey through central America and get smuggled across the Mexican border
No she fled in fear for her life after she worked for an opposition candidate in the 2006 election opposing Chavez. She was persecuted because of her political beliefs by the man you claim to be a wonderful leader.
First-Class on a jet to Miami was it?
Viva la Revolución!!!!
@Paul. I feel the same way – it’s a shame, and not a little ironic, that he had anything to do with that rotten Syrian regime, which is the diametric opposite of a socialist state. Still, I must acknowledge the good work he has done.
Nice pic joe I haven’t seen that view in 4 yrs thanks to our own brand of dictators . Up the cats
have your say