Jonathan Watts and Virginia Lopez in Caracas
guardian.co.uk, Sunday 7 October 2012
Venezuelan president retains power after 14 years in office, recording 54.5% of the vote against rival Henrique Capriles
Venezuela's Hugo Chávez
has once again defied his doubters by winning a new term of office in
the presidential election after what had been billed as the closest race
of his political life.
To the euphoria of supporters in and
around his campaign headquarters, the National Electoral Council
announced on Sunday the president had secured 54.4% of the votes, while
his rival Capriles was behind with 44.9%. Some votes were still to be
counted, but the council said the result was not in doubt.
Pumping his fist in the air, Chávez address his supporters from the
balcony of the presidential palace as a barrage of fireworks lit up the
sky. "The revolution has triumphed!" Chávez told the crowd, saying his
supporters "voted for socialism."
"Today we've shown that
Venezuela's democracy is one of the best democracies in the world, and
we will continue to show it," he shouted, waving a replica of Símon
Bolivar sword.
To continue reading.......
No comments:
Post a Comment