Chavez re-elected as president, defeats Capriles

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez was re-elected Sunday to a new six-year term, overcoming an energetic challenge by a candidate backed by an opposition coalition, according to nearly complete results announced by election officials.

Chavez, who has been president since 1999, defeated Henrique Capriles Radonski, whose campaign criticized the Chavez administration for inefficiencies

, infrastructure shortcomings and corruption.

Chavez highlighted his accomplishments in housing, education and health initiatives and acknowledged he need to do more on crime and government bureaucracy.

With 90% of the ballots counted Sunday night, Chavez has 54.42% of the vote compared with 44.97% for Capriles, according to Tibisay Lucena, president of the National Electoral Council.

Chavez had secured 7.4 million votes and Capriles 6.1 million votes, election officials said.

The country saw one of its high participation rates in decades, with almost 81% of voters going to the polls, Lucena said.

In fact, some polls were kept open two hours after their scheduled closing because of lines of voters waited for ballots.

Culled:CNN

Edited:LII