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Venezuela Analysis wrote:

Chavez’s Socialist Party Wins 20 of 23 States in Venezuelan Regional Elections

Merida, December 16th 2012 (Venezuelanalysis.com) – With all votes counted to the point of results being irreversible, the United Socialist Party of Venezuela has won 20 states, and the opposition coalition, three states.

The opposition lost their control of Zulia, Tachira, Carabobo, Monagas, and Nueva Esparta, but retained Amazonas and Miranda, and Lara states.

In Miranda, one of the key states at stake, contested by PSUV ex vice-president Elias Jaua, and the opposition presidential candidate and current governor of Miranda, Henrique Capriles, the opposition won with 50% to Jaua’s 46%.

In Bolivar state, where the results were very close, the opposition candidate Andres Velasquez is refusing to recognise his defeat and has called on locals to “defend” his “victory”.

In today’s elections Venezuelans and residents chose 23 state governors and 237 state legislators. The results of the state legislative voting have yet to be announced.

In the 2008 regional elections the PSUV won 17 of the 22 states being contested.

For state by state results see below.

Participation levels and voting mood

Turnout was just under 54% , though this varied markedly in different regions. In the 2008 state elections (which were slightly different to these ones in that they also included mayoral elections) participation rate was 65.45% of registered voters.

“In general you can see an environment of apparent calm, with some levels of abstention that have been higher than we expected,” Leonardo Briceno, teacher from Merida state told Venezuelanalysis.com’s Ewan Robertson.

The voting mood in many states has been reported to be peaceful, but somewhat apathetic , a contrast to the usual joyful ambience that has marked Venezuelan elections over the last thirteen years.

PSUV leader Jorge Rodriguez said that the “popular” or poorer areas had longer queues and higher participation than other areas.

The head of the operational strategic command for the Bolivarian Armed Forces, Wilmer Barrientos, informed press that the voting process had been carried out with “absolutely normality”, and that only 19 people have been detained, and of those, six people arrested for electoral crimes.

Today there were 12,748 voting booths, with a total of 36.220 voting machines distributed among them, and 17,421,946 eligible voters, 186,036 of which are foreign born residents.

Full results

Amazonas: PSUV: Nicia Maldonado 37%, MUD: Liborio Guarulla 65%

Anzoategui: PSUV: Aristóbulo Istúriz 53.97% MUD: Antonio Barreto Sira 41.06%

Apure: PSUV: Ramón Carrizález 59.83% MUD: Luis Lippa 22.42%

Aragua: PSUV: Tareck El Aissami 52.72% MUD: Richard Mardo 42.71%

Barinas: PSUV: Adán Chávez 54.69% MUD: Julio César Reyes 41.72%

Bolivar: PSUV: Francisco Rangel Gómez 43.57% MUD: Andrés Velásquez 42.34%

Carabobo: PSUV: Francisco Ameliach 53.49% MUD: Henrique Salas Feo 42.7%

Cojedes: PSUV: Érika Farías 59.27% MUD: Alberto Galindez 35.31%

Delta Amacuro: PSUV: Lizeta Hernández 61.27% MUD: Arévalo Salazar 20.99%

Falcon: PSUV: Stella Lugo de Montilla 48.28% MUD: Gregorio Graterol 35.28%

Guarico: PSUV: Rodríguez Chacín 70.41% MUD: José Manuel González 25.55%

Lara: PSUV: Luis Reyes Reyes 41.98% MUD: Henri Falcón 54.35%

Merida: PSUV: Alexis Ramírez 47.56% MUD: Lester Rodríguez 37.96%

Miranda: PSUV: Elías Jaua Milano 46.13% MUD: Henrique Capriles Radonski 50.35%

Monagas: PSUV: Yelitze Santaella 52. 59% MUD: Soraya Hernández - Independent: Jose Briceño: 40.67%

Nueva Esparta: PSUV: Carlos Mata Figueroa 52. 44% MUD: Morel Rodríguez 44.34%

Portuguesa: PSUV: Wilmar Castro Soteldo 50.96% MUD: Iván Colmenares - PCV: Oswaldo Zerpa 22.59%

Sucre: PSUV: Luis Acuña 56.77% MUD: Hernán Núñez 35.26%

Tachira: PSUV: José Vielma Mora 51.7% MUD: César Pérez Vivas 44.48%

Trujillo: PSUV: Rangel Silva 79.4% MUD: José Hernández 17.31%

Vargas: PSUV: Jorge Luis García Carneiro 69.05% MUD: José Manuel Olivares 24.13%

Yaracuy: PSUV: Julio León Heredia 57.08% MUD: Biagio Pilieri 36.05%

Zulia: PSUV: Francisco Arias Cárdenas 50.99% MUD: Pablo Pérez 46.74%

This article will be regularly updated, as more results come out.

Quote:

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez to miss swearing-in
Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez will not take the oath for a new term in office on Thursday, the government has said.

Mr Chavez is in hospital in Cuba after cancer surgery, and has suffered complications caused by a lung infection.

He has not been seen in public since his operation last month.

Venezuela's opposition has called for the Supreme Court to rule on what should be done if Mr Chavez is absent.

Its leader, Henrico Capriles, says that if Mr Chavez is not sworn in, then according to the constitution the National Assembly speaker should act as caretaker president until new elections are held within 30 days.

The government insists that the inauguration is a mere formality for an incumbent leader.

Mr Chavez has been president since 1999.

Show of support

Announcing the news to legislators, National Assembly speaker Diosdado Cabello said Mr Chavez would be sworn in at a later date.

"On the recommendation of his medical team, the process of post-operation recuperation will have to be prolonged beyond 10 January, [as a result of which] he will be unable to present himself on this date to the National Assembly." he said, reading a letter from Vice President Nicolas Maduro.

Earlier, Mr Cabello called on Chavez supporters to take to the streets of Caracas on Thursday to show support for him.

He said several foreign leaders had agreed to be at the Miraflores Presidential Palace on inauguration day.

But Mr Capriles urged them to stay away and not succumb to "a game by a political party", meaning Mr Chavez's ruling party.

In his most recent update on Mr Chavez, Information Minister Ernesto Villegas said his condition was "stable", and he was "responding to the treatment".

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-20949039