VENEZUELA: A CAR DRIVER TURNS PRESIDENT

He began his career as a bus driver in Caracas
, then rose through the ranks to become a member of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez's inner circle.

Now, election authorities say voters have picked Nicolas Maduro to be Chavez's successor.

With more than 99% of ballots counted, Maduro secured 50.7% of the vote, Venezuelan National Electoral Council President Tibisay Lucena said Sunday night, calling the results "irreversible."

Opposition candidate Henrique Capriles Radonski has demanded a recount, and it's unclear what Venezuela's political future holds. But speaking to cheering supporters Sunday night, Maduro said he was certain of his victory and ready to

lead the South American country.

In campaign rallies leading up to Sunday's presidential election, Maduro pledged to continue Chavez's political projects to build "21st century socialism."

Maduro, 50, has been Venezuela's interim leader since Chavez's death. When he registered to run for the presidency last month, he told supporters, "I am not Chavez, but I am his son."

The relationship between Chavez and U.S.

They weren't blood relations, but in one of his last public appearances, Chavez tapped Maduro as his replacement.

"My firm opinion, as clear as the full moon -- irrevocable, absolute, total -- is ... that you elect Nicolas Maduro as president," Chavez said in December, waving a copy of the Venezuelan Constitution as he spoke. "I ask this of you from my heart. He is one of the young leaders with the greatest ability to continue, if I cannot."

Maduro was a high-profile face in Chavez's administration. So was his wife, Cilia Flores, whom Chavez named as Venezuela's attorney general last year.

Serving as both the country's vice president and foreign minister, Maduro often was seen in the front row of Chavez's news conferences and traveled to Cuba many times alongside Chavez as he underwent cancer treatment.