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Chavez reaches out to opposition after victory

Dunya News

Hugo Chavez has pledged to become a better president after winning a tough re-election battle.

Hugo Chavez pledged to become a better president and work with the opposition after winning a tough re-election battle that betrayed simmering discontent at his socialist revolution.The leftist presidents victory was a relief to like-minded allies in the region, with Cuban leader Raul Castro hailing his friends historic triumph, while the United States urged him to listen to the opposition.After almost 14 years in power, Chavez survived cancer and the most formidable opponent of his presidency, youthful former state governor Henrique Capriles, to win Sundays election and another six-year term.The anti-US firebrand vowed to deepen his oil-funded socialist revolution after hailing his perfect victory.But he also reached out to disenchanted voters by pledging to work with the opposition, a tacit acceptance that this was a narrower victory than in the past and that Venezuela is a country very much divided.I want to include everybody, including sectors of the opposition, Chavez, wearing his trademark red shirt, told thousands of cheering supporters from the balcony of his Miraflores presidential residence.I commit to being a better president than Ive been these past few years, the 58-year-old leader said. Alluding to his cancer battle, he said: I thank God and ask him life and health to keep serving the Venezuelan people.Picked by the once divided opposition in an unprecedented primary, Capriles, 40, was able to woo voters from Chavez with promises to curb rising crime, reform the oil-dependent economy and unite the polarized nation.After a massive 81 percent turnout, Chavez won 55 percent, or nearly eight million, of the votes, while Capriles gave the opposition its best score against the president, 44.39 percent, or 6.4 million ballots.In 2006, Chavez thrashed opposition candidate Manuel Rosales, taking 62 percent of the vote and winning by a massive 25-point margin.The opposition is strengthened, with a clear leadership and many options for the future, Luis Vicente Leon, president of the Datanalisis polling firm, told AFP after Sundays much closer result.Chavez won without a doubt, Im not minimizing it, hes a political monster. But its not the same elections as 2006. Now the opposition has a leader who can seize on its unity, he said.Chavez can still count on a devout following among the countrys long-neglected poor, who adore him for the social missions that give them free health care, subsidized food, and sometimes housing.