Voters in Venezuela have stopped President Hugo Chavez from obtaining the two-thirds majority the Socialist leader said he needed in the National Assembly to effortlessly pass what he calls critical reforms.Chavez's United Socialist Party on Sunday won at least 94 of 165 seats, while his most ardent foes took 60. The rest of the votes had either not been determined or went to another small party.
Several of Chavez's most determined adversaries, some of whom had pushed for a boycott of the last congressional elections in 2005, said the results showed that Venezuelans opposed the president's plans to radicalize his self-styled revolution.
"Here it is very clear: Venezuela said no to Cuban-style communism, Venezuela said yes to the path of democracy," she said after the results were released. "We now have the legitimacy of the citizen vote. We are the representatives of the people."
Several of Chavez's most determined adversaries, some of whom had pushed for a boycott of the last congressional elections in 2005, said the results showed that Venezuelans opposed the president's plans to radicalize his self-styled revolution.
"Here it is very clear: Venezuela said no to Cuban-style communism, Venezuela said yes to the path of democracy," she said after the results were released. "We now have the legitimacy of the citizen vote. We are the representatives of the people."
