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Chavez's ruling party wins
regional elections
Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez
won another triumph as his
ruling party swept all but two
of 22 governorships up for grabs
in Sunday's regional elections
two months after winning a
referendum.
A pro-government candidate also won the Caracas
mayor's office while the opposition kept its district mayoral
offices in three of the five Caracas municipalities, the wealthier
parts of the capital, the National Electoral Council (CNE) said
Monday.
Venezuela has a total of 23 governors' offices, but voting did not
take place in southern Amazonas state, where Liborio Guarulla,a
pro-Chavez governor, will be up for re-election in February 2005.
The pro-Chavez forces kept 13 of the 14 states they had prior to the
elections, while the opposition managed to defend Zulia where much
of the oil industry is based and capture the tourist state of Nueva
Esparta.
Before the elections, eight states were under the opposition's
control. Now the ruling party controls 21 of the 23 governors'
offices in Venezuela.
Sunday's elections took place with low turnout. Abstention is
traditionally around 40 percent in regional elections, but
unofficial figures showed that 55-60 percent of the 14.2 million
voters had stayed away from casting ballots in the elections of more
than 600 governorships, state council seats and municipal offices.
The voter apathy in Sunday's elections is in sharp contrast to the
high turnout on Aug. 15 when 9.8 million voters, or 70 percent of
the eligible voters, participated in the recall referendum against
Chavez.
The much lower turnout was taken as a silent protest by the
opposition, which charged that candidates were imposed without
consensus.
Local analysts say the left-wing government will try to make use of
the windfall oil revenues to consolidate its revolution to help the
poor, while the opposition will have to start an inevitable internal
restructuring.
The opposition is at its worst, said Luis Leon, a consultant of
local private firm Datanalisis, referring to the self-criticism
launched by the anti-Chavez forces.
On Sunday, Chavez pledged to work with governors and representatives
to legislative councils, "irrespective of their political
orientation," for the development of the world's No. 5 oil exporter.
76,000
made homeless by winter season in Colombia
The new winter season in Colombia has
caused 11 people dead, 23 injured and more than 76,000 people have
been left homeless, the authorities said.
Chief of investigation and development of the Civil Defense
Department, Eugenio Alarcon, said rains have affected some 16,100
families in the country's 22 departments and destroyed over 200
houses.
"The most affected areas are those that have been hit by landslides
and rains in the region of the Magdalena department, where in recent
hours the overflow of the Magdalena River has affected 90 families
in the San Pablo del Bolivar municipality," Alarcon said.
In the Simiti municipality in the northern department of Bolivar, 43
families were affected by landslides.
This is the second winter wave in Colombia this year. The first one
occurred earlier this year (April-May), when 10 people were killed,
13 more injured and over 106,000 people made homeless in 17 of the
country's 32 departments.
Uruguayan Electoral Court yet to confirm victory of Vazquez
The Uruguayan Electoral Court has considered it necessary to wait
for the counting of observed votes to determine whether left-wing
candidate Tabare Vazquez has won the first round of presidential
elections on Sunday.
According to official figures, with nearly all votes counted Monday
morning, Vazquez of the left-wing Encuentro Progresista/Frente
Amplio coalition had garnered 50.7 percent of the vote, just over
the hurdle of 50 percent plus one vote needed to win in first-round
balloting.
However, the electoral court said Monday that with 32,154 observed
votes still uncounted, it could not confirm Vazquez's victory.
The observed votes referred to ballots cast in districts due to
justified reasons. Most of the voters are police agents and members
of armed forces guarding voting centers. Also included are civil
personnel of the Receiving Commissions.
The candidates of the National party and ruling Colorado party have
admitted their defeat and congratulated the 64-year-old Vazquez.
The US government also sent congratulations to Vazquez on Monday
over his victory.
Vazquez claimed victory in Sunday's presidential elections as exit
polls showed he had grabbed more than 50 percent of the votes. If
the votes are confirmed, Vazquez will become the first leftist
president of the country.
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