President Hugo Chavez has gained another six-year term in Venezuela
Venezuela elections have given President Hugo Chavez another six-year term Oct. 7. Chavez won 54% of the vote, defeating opposing candidate Henrique Capriles Radonski. This is the fourth election Chavez has won in the South American country.
“Today a new cycle of the Bolivarian government begins. I promise to be a better president every day,” Chavez told a cheering crowd of supporters after the Venezuela elections results were revealed. Chavez has been in office since 1999.
During his campaign leading up to the Venezuela elections, Hugo Chavez pressed his vision of socialism funded by state oil windfalls. He also highlighted his accomplishments in housing, education and health care, according to CNN, while acknowledging that more needs to be done in other areas if re-elected.
With the ballots counted, Pres. Chavez, a cancer survivor, secured 7.4 million votes versus Capriles’ 6.1 million votes. This marked one of the highest voter participations in Venezuela elections history, according to Tibisay Lucena, president of the National Electoral Council.
It was unclear if Chavez would be physically able to return for another term as Venezuela’s president because of his battle with cancer. He has had two surgeries, and at age 58, various factors caused speculation over if he would need a successor in May. After naming 10 people to the highest circle of advisors, in July he said he was cancer-free.
The Venezuela elections results were announced just before fireworks lit up and blazed in the sky over Caracas. “Today we have demonstrated– comrades, compatriots — that our democracy is one of the best in the world,” said Chavez to his supporters.
