Election News Snapshot - Venezuela

The ‘Bolivarian Revolution’ of President Hugo Chavez continues. Venezuelan voters chose Sunday to rid the constitution of all references to term limits, paving the way for a third Chavez term in 2012. This comes ten years after winning his first referendum to extend Presidential terms from five to six years, and limits from one to two terms, and a little over a year since losing his first attempt to kill term limits altogether. For the most part election monitors declared the vote to be free and fair, though the President’s use of state media to run his ‘Si’ ('Yes') campaign, and continued harassment of opposition media has been roundly criticized by foreign observers. To this point, Chavez has seemed to respect the democratic institution of the free election itself – as evidenced by his losses in regional elections last December – though if trends toward power grabbing continue, who knows how long this will last.

Results of Constitutional Referendum, 15 February 2009

• Yes-----54.85%
• No------45.14%