Bad news for Venezuela as Chavez wins referendom

NY Times:

President Hugo Chávez handily won a referendum on Sunday that will end presidential term limits, allowing him to run for re-election indefinitely and injecting fresh vibrancy into his 10-year-old socialist-inspired revolution.

About 54.4 percent of voters supported the proposal to end term limits for all elected officials, with 45.6 percent voting against it, electoral officials said in their first report late Sunday, with nearly complete returns.

The vote not only opens the way for Mr. Chávez to run for a new six-year term when his current one expires in 2013, but could also bolster his ambitious agenda as an icon of the left and a counterweight to American policies in Latin America.

...
The good news is that his socialist policies are failing and he may not be able to sustain another victory as the country faces both run away inflation and is on the breach of insolvency. Pre election predictions forecast a much tighter race. I t raises the question of whether Chavez cooked the books in the count or stuff the boxes. It is unlikely we will ever know since he has virtually despotic control over the process.

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