Weekly Report - 11 October 2012 (WR-12-40)

It was closer - but the Venezuelan opposition remains unable to answer the electoral phenomenon that is President Hugo Chávez. Chávez will be the longest-serving democratically elected head of state in Latin American history if he completes his term in 2019. Chávez ran out a comfortable winner with 8.1m votes and an 11-percentage point advantage over his rival Henrique Capriles Radonski. He took all but two of the country’s 23 states. Capriles, however, won his electoral spurs, taking 6.5m votes, far more than previous challengers. If poor health prevents Chávez from finishing his term, Capriles would be in pole position to capitalise in fresh elections.

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