Venezuela Stays The Course

President Hugo Chavez was extremely popular in Venezuela, and I feared that after his death that country might once again be seized by right-wing forces -- who would undo all the reforms Chavez had done and create a plutocracy (where the rich would rule and the poor would be left out in the cold once again). But while the election was closer than when Chavez ran, the right-wing was beaten back.

The man in the picture above is Nicolas Maduro, who has been the acting president since the death of Hugo Chavez. He was also the person recommend by Chavez to be his successor. And a couple of days ago, he was the winner in Venezuela's presidential race. It was a squeaker, but he won and will now start a full term as president. Here are the official results:

Nicolas Maduro...............7,563,747 (50.75%)
Henrique Capriles...............7,298,491 (48.97%)

Capriles is of course complaining that the election was unfair, but that is normal (and he complained just as hard when defeated by a much larger margin by Chavez). But the truth is that the people of Venezuela voted (79.17% of them) and he lost in a fair election.

I congratulate the people of Venezuela on their choice for president, and I hope he can continue the reforms that Hugo Chavez started.