Chavez: New 'defeat for the devil'

Story Highlights

• Hugo Chavez takes 61 percent of vote to challenger's 38 percent
• Chavez supporters set off fireworks, cruise downtown Caracas in caravans
• Voters wait for hours in snaking lines as record turnout predicted
• Chavez likely to push for end to presidential term limits

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CARACAS, Venezuela (CNN) -- Anti-American socialist Hugo Chavez said his claimed victory in the Venezuelan presidential election was "another defeat for the devil" after the bulk of returns showed him leading challenger Manuel Rosales by a wide margin.

With 78 percent of the votes counted by Sunday night, the National Electoral Council reported Chavez leading Rosales by a margin of 61 percent to 38 percent. Rosales, a provincial governor from the country's oil patch, conceded defeat late Sunday but disputed the margin of his loss.

Chavez thanked supporters gathered outside Miraflores Palace for the win. He also thanked his opponents and urged them to join him in continuing his efforts to remake the country in his self-styled socialist revolution. (Watch Chavez greet crowd after election)

"Long live the socialist revolution! Destiny has been written," Chavez shouted to thousands of flag-waving supporters wearing red shirts, according to The Associated Press.

"That new era has begun," he declared with religious fervor, raising a hand in the air. "We have shown that Venezuela is red! ... No one should fear socialism... Socialism is human. Socialism is love."

An outspoken opponent of U.S. policies in Latin America, Chavez was seeking a second full term as leader of oil-rich Venezuela. He was first elected in 1998, re-elected under a new constitution in 2000 and survived a recall attempt by opponents in 2004.

"It's another defeat for the devil, who tries to dominate the world," Chavez told his adoring masses. "Down with imperialism! We need a new world!"

Chavez has used the country's oil wealth to improve services for the country's poor majority, but opponents accuse him of trying to turn Venezuela into a Cuban-style dictatorship. Rosales said he would try to keep the fractured opposition together after Sunday's vote.

He was briefly ousted by a failed coup in 2002, a plot he blamed on the United States. Bush administration officials denied the allegation, but have made no secret of their displeasure with the Venezuelan leader.

The 52-year-old former paratrooper, once jailed for leading a coup attempt himself, has bolstered ties with Cuba and supported other leftist leaders in South America during his presidency.

And in September, Chavez rankled U.S. officials by telling the U.N. General Assembly -- a day after President Bush addressed the session -- that "The devil came here yesterday, and it smells of sulfur still today."

When polls opened Sunday, lines stretched for more than half a mile at some precincts in Caracas -- a situation that raised red flags with some voters.

"They're slowing down the vote," said Rosana Cagiano, an unemployed Caracas resident. "The government's hoping to tire us out so they can play their dirty tricks."

Polls closed at 4 p.m. Sunday (2000 GMT), but election officials said anyone standing in line when polls closed would be allowed to cast ballots.

CNN's Karl Penhaul contributed to this report.

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