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Article: CHAVEZ WINS BIG IN VENEZUELA NEW CONSTITUTION APPROVED BY 71% OF VOTERS.(News)
- Article from:
- Seattle Post-Intelligencer
- Article date:
- December 16, 1999
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 1999 Seattle Post-Intelligencer. All rights reserved. Reproduced with the permission of the Dialog Corporation by Gale Group. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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Venezuelans have overwhelmingly approved a constitution that eliminates the Senate and vastly increases the power of President Hugo Chavez, allowing him to stay in office for up to 13 years, ballot results showed yesterday.
With about three-quarters of the ballots counted, 71 percent voted in favor of the new constitution and 29 percent were opposed.
Street celebrations immediately broke out when the initial results were announced by the National Electoral Council.
Torrential downpours that killed 37 people had forced officials to delay poll closings by two hours because many people had not been able to reach voting centers.
``This is ...