Venezuela Elections

Despite a strong showing by opposition candidates in national elections, President Hugo Chavez's supporters maintained control of Venezuela's Congress, according to preliminary results released Monday. Chavez supporters won at least 96 of 165 seats in the elections Sunday, compared with at least 61 seats won by opposition candidates with the Democratic Unity Table coalition, based on partial results from the National Electoral Council. A splinter socialist party called the PPT won at least two seats, and six seats remained up in the air. The results, if confirmed when final tallies become available, will leave Chavez without the two-thirds congressional majority he has enjoyed in recent years and which gave his government automatic approval of proposals.

Venezuela's National Electoral Council declared Nicolas Maduro, the handpicked successor of the late President Hugo Chavez, the winner in the presidential election Sunday. But it was a victory in a compromised system that tilted the table in his favor. FOR THE RECORD: Venezuela: The biographical information in an April 19 Op-Ed on the Venezuelan election misreported the name of an L.A. organization. It is the Pacific Council on International Policy, not the Pacific Council on International Affairs.

Former Lt. Col. Hugo Chavez, who staged a failed bloody coup six years ago, was elected president of Venezuela on Sunday--a stunning blow to the political and economic establishment that has ruled the country during 40 years of democracy. People poured into the streets, dancing, setting off fireworks and honking horns in celebration of what many viewed as a victory of the poor over a political elite that has failed to ease poverty and control rampant corruption.

Despite a strong showing by opposition candidates in national elections, President Hugo Chavez's supporters maintained control of Venezuela's Congress, according to preliminary results released Monday. Chavez supporters won at least 96 of 165 seats in the elections Sunday, compared with at least 61 seats won by opposition candidates with the Democratic Unity Table coalition, based on partial results from the National Electoral Council. A splinter socialist party called the PPT won at least two seats, and six seats remained up in the air. The results, if confirmed when final tallies become available, will leave Chavez without the two-thirds congressional majority he has enjoyed in recent years and which gave his government automatic approval of proposals.

If Venezuelans follow the lead of President Hugo Chavez in an upcoming referendum, their country will have a new constitution full of the grand ambition, ideological passion and nagging ambiguity that have characterized the year-old Chavez government. The debate leading up to the Dec. 15 vote on the new Magna Carta drawn up by a Chavez-dominated Constitutional Assembly inspires hope and fear.

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez sent troops to quell disturbances over disputed regional elections as several opposition candidates challenged the results of Sunday's general elections. Chavez cruised to a six-year term in a ballot described as clean and fair by international observers. But tight races for state governors and mayors in many regions sparked protests and clashes as opposition candidates alleged vote fixing and sought recounts.

Venezuelans endorsed President Hugo Chavez's "peaceful revolution" Sunday by electing the charismatic populist to a six-year term and giving his party and its coalition partners a majority in the national legislature, according to preliminary election returns. After a day of voting marked by long lines but few other problems, Chavez held a decisive 59% to 37% lead over his former ally, Francisco Arias, with 77% of the ballots counted.

Miss Universe of 1981 swapped her title for that of mayor of Venezuela's richest municipality Sunday. Irene Saez, whose distinguished past made her the most publicized of the 200,000 candidates in Sunday's state and municipal elections, defeated two contenders for the newly created Chacao district of eastern Caracas, the local Venevision network said. "I will not defraud the confidence you have placed in me," Saez, 30, said.

To Rafael Caldera, winning Venezuela's presidency for the second time is an honor and an opportunity to restore the economy and the soul of his country, a dubious prospect in the minds of many diplomats and analysts. "Caldera has never seen this election as one of specific issues or even of normal politics," a diplomat said in the wake of the 77-year-old Caldera's presidential victory in Sunday's election--his second such win in more than two decades.

Venezuela's ruling Democratic Action party nominated former President Carlos Andres Perez as its presidential candidate for the 1988 general elections. Perez received 66% of the vote in a national primary, defeating Interior Minister Octavio Lepage Barretto, who polled 34%. Perez, 64, was president from 1974 to 1979, during the oil bonanza that coincided with the skyrocketing of crude prices on the world market.

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez sent troops to quell disturbances over disputed regional elections as several opposition candidates challenged the results of Sunday's general elections. Chavez cruised to a six-year term in a ballot described as clean and fair by international observers. But tight races for state governors and mayors in many regions sparked protests and clashes as opposition candidates alleged vote fixing and sought recounts.

Venezuelans endorsed President Hugo Chavez's "peaceful revolution" Sunday by electing the charismatic populist to a six-year term and giving his party and its coalition partners a majority in the national legislature, according to preliminary election returns. After a day of voting marked by long lines but few other problems, Chavez held a decisive 59% to 37% lead over his former ally, Francisco Arias, with 77% of the ballots counted.

Since Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez took office in February last year, Venezuelans have withstood a litany of woes. The economy contracted by 7%. Unemployment hit a 30-year high. Violent crime doubled. In the country's worst disaster, floods killed at least 30,000 people. Yet on the evidence of opinion polls, Chavez seems likely to win reelection by a substantial margin in upcoming voting, when Venezuelans will go to the polls for the fifth time since his 1999 victory.

Citing technical woes, Venezuela's high court on Thursday suspended this weekend's general elections, saying free and fair balloting is impossible until the problems are resolved. Conditions for "credibility and transparency" in Sunday's presidential, congressional and regional elections do not exist, said Ivan Rincon, president of the Supreme Tribunal of Justice.

Venezuelans overwhelmingly approved on Wednesday a constitution that eliminates the Senate and vastly increases the power of President Hugo Chavez, allowing him to stay in office for up to 13 years, according to early results. With more than 80% of the ballots counted, 71% of voters were in favor of the new charter and 29% opposed. Street celebrations immediately broke out when the initial results were announced by the National Electoral Council.

If Venezuelans follow the lead of President Hugo Chavez in an upcoming referendum, their country will have a new constitution full of the grand ambition, ideological passion and nagging ambiguity that have characterized the year-old Chavez government. The debate leading up to the Dec. 15 vote on the new Magna Carta drawn up by a Chavez-dominated Constitutional Assembly inspires hope and fear.

The practice of democracy is never easy. But for Venezuela, Sunday's national elections couldn't be a much harder exercise, particularly when one possible outcome is a military coup. The presumed pretext for military action would be post-election violence, ignited by reports of massive voter fraud or competing claims of victory by presidential candidates. "That would do it," one diplomat said. "Violence would give the military an excuse to take over, establish order and invalidate the results.

Citing technical woes, Venezuela's high court on Thursday suspended this weekend's general elections, saying free and fair balloting is impossible until the problems are resolved. Conditions for "credibility and transparency" in Sunday's presidential, congressional and regional elections do not exist, said Ivan Rincon, president of the Supreme Tribunal of Justice.

President Hugo Chavez says a new constitution drafted by an assembly packed with his allies would distance the world's No. 3 oil exporter from "savage capitalism." Chavez, a left-leaning nationalist, has alarmed investors at home and abroad with frequent attacks on the free-market economic model. The Venezuelan charter will be put to a referendum Dec. 15. Business groups and opposition politicians say it will discourage foreign investors.