Venezuela has re-elected Hugo Chavez to serve another 6 years as President of the country on October 7, 2012. With the win, Chavez would now be serving a total of 20 years as the leader of the country. People across Caracas, the capital, celebrated the win enthusiastically. Unified opposition candidate Henrique Capriles congratulated Chavez and encouraged his supporters to not lose heart.
With approximately 90 per cent of the ballots being counted, Chavez was found to receive 54.42 per cent of the votes, while Capriles received 44.97 per cent. Soon after the victory, Chavez thanked the people of Venezuela after the results were released to the public. If the final results confirm a win for Chavez, he will be re-instated on January 10, 2013.
The build-up to the elections saw some untoward incidents which prompted a ban on the sale of alcohol; only security forces were given authority to handle firearms. The week before the elections saw three activists from the opposition being killed, with others being injured during a voting rehearsal. While casting his ballot, Chavez had mentioned that some people thought he was a tyrant, but if anyone wanted a mature and thriving democracy, they should come to Venezuela.
Chavez mentioned on his twitter account, that his victory is not only the peoples’ victory, but a victory for South America and the Caribbean.
