By Patrick Markey
Caracas - Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez stormed to a re-election victory in Sunday's vote, handing him an ample mandate to broaden his promised socialist revolution and challenge Washington's influence in Latin America.
Dressed in his signature red shirt, Chavez told cheering supporters at his presidential palace that his landslide was a blow to US President George W Bush's administration, which portrays the leftist as an anti-democratic menace.
"Today we gave another lesson in dignity to the imperialists, it is another defeat for the empire of Mr Danger," Chavez roared from a balcony above the crowds using one of the insults he has tossed at the US president.
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'Today we gave another lesson in dignity to the imperialists' The former soldier's victory will further rile the White House, which worries about Chavez destabilising Latin America neighbours and strengthening ties between the OPEC heavyweight Venezuela and US foes Cuba and Iran.
The National Electoral Council said Chavez won 61 percent of the vote while rival Manuel Rosales, a governor of an oil-producing province who managed to unite the fractured opposition, won 38 percent after nearly 80 percent of the vote had been counted.
Chavez supporters fired off thunderous fireworks in the capital and drove through Caracas chanting "Hey ho, Chavez will not go" to celebrate his securing six more years in office.
Chavez is the fourth leftist to win an election in Latin America in the past five weeks.
Ecuador's Rafael Correa, who calls himself an ally of the Venezuelan, won a run-off last week after promising sweeping political reforms. Leftists Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva in Brazil and Daniel Ortega in Nicaragua also have won recent presidential elections.
Worrying his opponents, Chavez has vowed to use a fresh mandate to scrap presidential term limits.
Having already taken on multinational oil giants to demand they hand more control to the state, Chavez will likely press for more share of Venezuela's vast oil and mineral resources and increase land distribution for the rural poor.
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