THE TELEGRAPH: President Hugo Chavez of Venezuela has won the right to stand for re-election indefinitely after a vote to scrap term limits on elected posts was passed.
Chavez, a flamboyant Socialist and former paratrooper, celebrated victory with crowds of red-clad supporters and said he intended to stand for a third term in 2012.
Previously, the president was allowed only two consecutive terms, which would have forced Chavez to step down at the end of his second mandate in 2013.
Speaking to cheering supporters on Sunday from the balcony of his Miraflores palace, he said: "The doors of the future are wide open.
"In 2012 there will be presidential elections for the 2013-2019 period and, unless God has planned something else, unless the people have planned something else, this soldier is now a pre-candidate for the Republic's presidency."
Chavez - who is popular with the country's poor for his oil-funded health care and education programs - has ruled for 10 years.
He is blamed by a vocal opposition for rising crime, corruption and inflation and will now have to tackle the effects of the global downturn on Venezuela's oil-based economy. >>> | Monday, February 16, 2009
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