Chavez wins. Well done.

You've probably already heard the news that Chavez has won a third Presidential term in Venezuela with a convincing 61.4% (lots more than Blair and Bush got for example). Although that's with 78.3% of the votes counted, so it's not a final figure.

It appears that Chavez recieved just under six million votes, certainly less than his rather ambitious campaign to get ten million but still more than both the recall referendum and the last Presidential vote.

There's been celebrations on the streets of the barios and protests and pouting in the rich neighbourhoods. Good.

But my main worry is, will George W. Bush's congratulatory telegram get lost in the post?

Links

• Venezuelanalysis
• Red Pepper blog
• Hands off Venezuela delegation blog
• Chavez "Didn't Fall from the Sky" Spiegel Online