Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez wins re-election

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez has been re-elected to another six-year term after defeating opposition leader Henrique Capriles, electoral council has said.

The 58-year-old Chavez took 54.42 per cent of the vote, with 90 per cent of the ballots counted, to 44.97 per cent for young opposition candidate Henrique Capriles, official results showed on Sunday, Al Jazeera reported.

Venezuelan National Electoral Council president Tibisay Lucena said 81 per cent of the nearly 19 million registered voters cast ballots, one of the largest turnouts in years.

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It was Chavez's third re-election victory in nearly 14 years in office, though by a smaller margin than in 2006, when he won 63 per cent of the votes.

Fireworks exploded in downtown Caracas, and Chavez's supporters celebrated waving flags and jumping for joy outside the presidential palace.

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Chavez won more than 7.4 million votes, beating Capriles by more than 1.2 million votes, Lucena said, reports stated.

The mood was grim at Capriles' campaign headquarters, where opposition supporters broke into tears.

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Capriles accepted defeat and congratulated President Hugo Chavez for his re-election victory, Al Jazeera reported.

Chavez staged a remarkable comeback after bouncing back from cancer this year and wants a new six-year term to consolidate his self-styled socialist revolution in the OPEC nation.

While his direct connection with masses ensured his re-election, the opposition's big share of the vote reflected a real and growing anger at Chavez's failure to fix basic problems such as violent crime, potholed roads, electricity blackouts, and entrenched corruption at all levels, the Al Jazeera report added.

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