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Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez Wins Re-Election Bid

National Electoral Council President Tibisay Lucena announced late Sunday that President Chavez won a third six-year term of office.

She said that candidate Hugo Rafael Chavez Frias won 54.52 percent of the votes. Henrique Capriles won 44.97 percent of the votes.

Polling results also indicate 81 percent of the 19 million registered voters cast ballots¹, making this one of the largest election turnouts in years.

It was a major victory for the 58-year-old president who staged a remarkable² comeback from cancer this year.

After the announcement, President Chavez's supporters danced in the streets as fireworks lit up the sky. Javier Medina says he is celebrating because Chavez belongs to his people, the poor and the working class.

The mood at the opposition's headquarters was somber³. Capriles conceded the election and sent his congratulations to Chavez, but he also asked that the president take into consideration the views of all the people when governing.

He says there is a country that sees two visions and that to be a good president means to work for all Venezuelans, to work for the solution of all Venezuelans' problems.

The election, while a victory for Chavez, reinforces the view that Venezuela is deeply divided between those who support Chavez's brand of socialism and fiery⁴ anti-American rhetoric⁵, and supporters of Capriles who want free-market solutions to economic problems and less confrontation⁶ with the United States.

While Chavez has used Venezuela's vast oil wealth to fund free housing and medical programs for the poor, the country is also experiencing slow economic growth, high inflation and food shortages.