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CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) -- Venezuela's electoral council says President Hugo Chavez has won re-election, defeating challenger Henrique Capriles.
National Electoral Council president Tibisay Lucena says that with most votes counted, Chavez had about 54 percent of the vote.
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.
Chavez wins re-election, electoral council says -- AP story
(AP) Chavez: Polling stations remain open in Venezuela
CARACAS, Venezuela
Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez said some voters were still in line voting Sunday night, and he called for calm as the nation awaits results of the presidential election.
"There are still people voting in some centers," Chavez said in a phone call to his campaign leaders broadcast live on state television. "Let's wait for the results with patience, calm."
The president of Venezuela's electoral council said earlier that voting stations would remain open past the scheduled closing time of 6 p.m. where there were voters who had not cast ballots, as is the norm under the country's electoral rules............
Chavez: Polling stations remain open in Venezuela
Originally posted by Cuervo
reply to post by xuenchen
Congrats to Chavez! Hopefully he can continue the trending drop in poverty and not cave into foreign interests.
Update 10:50 p.m.: According to the Associated Press, Venezuela’s electoral council has declared that Hugo Chavez beat Henriques Capriles in Sunday’s presidential election with about 54 percent of the vote, despite exit polls showing otherwise.
Venezuela Twitter users have claimed Chavez’s victory was wrought with election fraud, and that the socialist incumbent president sent tanks into the streets of his country as those exit poll reports showed him losing. A picture of the tanks surfaced on Twitter Sunday evening.
The British Guardian newspaper reported that Chavez also sent troops armed with AK-47s into Venezuela’s streets to fight against any protests in case unrest came as a result of the news.
Venezuela Twitter users have claimed Chavez’s victory was wrought with election fraud, and that the socialist incumbent president sent tanks into the streets of his country as those exit poll reports showed him losing. A picture of the tanks surfaced on Twitter Sunday evening.
Originally posted by VaterOrlaag
Has anyone, and I mean ANYONE ever had a shot against Chavez?
I find it hard to believe Venezuela's elections are transparent.
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.
www.guardian.co.uk...
If Hugo was so confident in his ability to win, why send tanks out?
Originally posted by buster2010
90% of the vote has been counted and he had a 54% of the vote. Hell we declare winners here with far less than that.
By ALEX PENA
Oct. 8, 2012
With the Venezuelan consulate in Miami closed, an estimated 7,000 expatriates road-tripped to New Orleans this weekend to vote in the Venezuelan presidential election.
The day started in high spirits -- the vast majority hoped for a win by centerist opposition candidate Henrique Capriles -- but ended with a low, as standing president Hugo Chávez was re-elected by a 10 percent margin.
After hearing news of the vote, Venezuelans at the New Orleans convention center stood devastated and, in some cases, disbelieving.
"We just got the news that Chavez got 54 percent of the vote, and we don't believe that's the case," said Siul Narvaez. "You can not be ahead in the polls, and all of a sudden have a 10-point difference."
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Chavistas Open Fire
Tuesday, December 04 2007 @ 05:27 AM CST
Contributed by: Peter Gelderloos
Views: 1,051
On 7 October, masked gunmen opened fire on student protestors in Caracas, Venezuela, who were returning from a protest against President Hugo Chavez's proposed Constitutional reforms. Thousands of students marched on the Supreme Court protesting the reforms, which Chavez proposes to pass by referendum and critics say consolidate executive powers, giving the President control of the Central Bank, abolishing presidential term limits, expanding state of emergency powers, and creating new provinces to be governed by centrally appointed officials. These authoritarian changes are paired with populist measures like reducing the voting age and decreasing the hours of the maximum work day. Chavistas Open Fire
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Shooting at Opposition March in Venezuela Leaves at Least Two Dead
By Rachael Boothroyd
Caracas, September 30 2012 (Venezuelanalysis) – At least two men lost their lives at a march for the Venezuelan opposition candidate, Capriles Radonski, on Saturday, after a gunman opened fire in the western state of Barinas. The incident took place a day ahead of the Venezuelan opposition's closing march in the capital Caracas and just a week before the country's presidential elections next Sunday.
Omar Ramón Fernández, 63, and Antonio Valero Ávila, 32, both died in hospital following the incident, which allegedly involved a supporter of the governing United Socialist Party of Venezuela (PSUV). The national coordinator of the opposition coalition MUD, Julio Borges, has also claimed that a third man was killed later on Saturday evening, but has not identified the victim or provided any further details.
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Caracas,
Monday
October 8,2012
Venezuela Opposition Presidential Candidate Capriles Rally Attacked by Gunmen (VIDEO)
Red shirted supporters of left-wing Venezuela President Hugo Chavez fired shots at a crowd of Opposition supporters gathered for a rally with Opposition presidential candidate Henrique Capriles Radonski. While Capriles was not injured, the son of prominent Opposition Congressman Ismael Garcia was wounded from a bullet in the attack in the Caracas barrio of Cotiza, in west Caracas.
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