Venezuela

Chavez wins election as opposition makes some gains

Article published on the 2008-11-24 Latest update 2008-11-24 13:33 TU

Opposition leaders Henrique Capriles of Miranda state (c) Caracas Mayor Antonio Ledezma (L) and Chacao's Mayor Leopoldo Lopez (R) celebrate their victories.
(Photo: Reuters)

President Hugo Chavez’s Socialist party retained power in most of Venezuela’s states, but the opposition made key gains by picking up a third state and winning the mayoralty of Caracas.

"Who can say there is a dictatorship in Venezuela?" Chavez asked in a televised address congratulating his opponents for their victories.

It was a change in tone from comments made before the election, when Chavez threatened to jail a political rival in Zulia state, whom he called a "swine".

Chavez’s Socialists retained power in 17 of the 22 states up for grabs Sunday, but were pushed out of the country’s most prosperous cities and most populous states.

“They’ve prepared the ground for making bigger losses than they have,” says Latin America political analyst Colin Harding.

“He didn’t do well in the bigger and industrial centres. The government lost the two main industrial states: Miranda and Carabobo as well as the capital. The mayor of Caracas is now a major opposition figure,” Harding told RFI.

In the capital, Caracas, opposition leader Antonio Ledezma beat out outspoken Chavez supporter Juan Barreto, due largely to voter concern over high violent crime rates, which have only increased under Chavez’ administration.

This was the second defeat for Chavez in a year after he lost a constitutional reform vote last December that would have increased his presidential powers.

Despite the setbacks, Chavez supporters still control the Supreme Court, the National Assembly, the federal bureaucracy and every state company.

In Chavez’ home state of Barinas, his father, the outgoing governor, said that his vote had been switched by an electronic voting machine. These comments were reported in a victory speech given by Chavez’ older brother, Adan, after he narrowly won the state seat himself, cementing the family’s political dynasty there.

Chavez' weakened government will face another challenge in dwindling oil revenues in the months ahead, Harding says.

“The government has really built its support on massive public spending,” Harding says. "With the declining price of oil … the resources are starting to dwindle.”

“The health of [Chavez’s] government will very much depend on how they manage the declining resources, and so far they haven’t shown very much skill at that.”