Tip:
Highlight text to annotate it
X
(Image source: Wikimedia Commons)
BY DAN KENNEDY
Venezuelans have elected a new president for their country following the death of their
former leader, Hugo Chavez, last month.
The new guy is essentially a political heir. Voters chose Nicolas Maduro Sunday to lead
the country. But so did the late Chavez, hand-picking Maduro to succeed him in office.
And this election was a close one. So close, in fact, his challenger, Henrique Capriles,
is now demanding a recount.
“In the name of democracy and peace of our people and the commitment we have to Venezuela,
what we want is that they do an audit, that they are counted vote by vote.”
While it isn’t clear yet whether Capriles will get his recount, Maduro says he welcomes
it — and that the results were, “just, legal and constitutional.” Many analysts
say the winner isn’t a surprise... But the vote margin is.
Maduro narrowly escaped with 50.7 percent of the vote... A difference of about 200,000
votes.
USA Today mentions even Maduro himself predicted he would crush Capriles by winning 10 million
votes. He was shy about 2.5 million of that desired number.
This isn’t the first time Capriles has tasted defeat. He lost to Chavez in October by a
wider margin — 1.5 million votes. Maduro will serve a six-year term beginning Friday
when he’s set to be sworn in.