VIDEO: Chavez, Opposition Share Election Spoils

The outcome of the post-election tussle could determine if Chavez has enough backing to realize his reelection ambitions.

President Hugo Chavez's left-wing party and the growing opposition shared the spoils of Venezuela's local elections as they jostled for political momentum in the OPEC nation on Monday.

Chavez's socialist allies won a clear majority of state races but the multi-party opposition dented his dominance of regional posts, wrenching from him control over some of Venezuela's most populous areas including the capital Caracas.

The results of Sunday's elections could make more challenging Chavez's goal of changing the law to run for re-election in 2012, especially after the opposition defeated that move last year in a referendum.

Allies of the anti-U.S. president won 17 of 22 states, officials said, despite widespread voter complaints the government has done too little to control some of the world's worst murder rates and Latin America's highest inflation.

The opposition held onto the two states it won at the last regional elections four years ago, appeared to pick up three more including the heavily populated state metropolitan area around Caracas and won the mayoralty of the capital.

The national election authority said on Sunday two of those states were too close to call. But local count officials said Chavez allies lost in both states and the opposition claimed slim victories, according to media, politicians and one regional vote officer.

The overall mixed results triggered a public relations battle as each side fought to seize the momentum by persuading Venezuelans it was the victor in an election where a high 65 percent of voters cast ballots.

The outcome of the post-election tussle could determine whehter Chavez has enough backing to realize his re-election ambitions or follow through on threats to spread nationalization by seizing assets from landowners or food companies.

Chavez, who had campaigned frenetically saying his political future was at stake, claimed victory.

In office since 1999 and popular for spending freely on the majority poor, the man who calls former Cuban President Fidel Castro his mentor vowed to press his drive toward socialism despite plummeting income from Venezuela's main export, oil.

"The (revolutionary) flame is stronger today," he said. "This is a great victory for the party ... and now we will focus on the task of deepening and extending our project."

His party said the political map remained the red of Chavez's self-styled revolution and noted his allies tallied about 1.5 million more votes overall than the opposition.

But emboldened by its second electoral advance in 12 months, the opposition noted it now governed over the most populous areas in a coastal "electoral corridor" that is traditionally key to winning Venezuelan elections.

The opposition's wins in major urban centers enhance its visibility and its chance to build credibility that it can meet voters' demands for better services such as trash collection.

NO CHAVEZ FIREWORKS

Chavez gave a subdued speech at party headquarters after the results. That contrasted with past votes when he typically punched the air and shouted victory slogans from his palace balcony in front of thousands of red-shirted supporters.

Fireworks screamed across the capital's upscale areas, marking the opposition's win and anti-Chavez media stressed how his popularity has eroded among the urban poor.

"I invite the president of the republic to work with us to rescue Caracas from anarchy," Antonio Ledezma, who won the mayoralty of Caracas, said.

The opposition, which showed more unity than in previous elections by generally fielding single candidates, made its gains despite huge disadvantages. Chavez blocked some of its stars from standing for election with legal maneuvers and threatened to cut off government funds to areas that elected the opposition.

"Sunday's results have certainly contributed to empower the opposition, particularly when taking into account that, as in previous elections, the candidates sponsored by the government benefited from unfettered governmental logistical and financial support," Goldman Sachs senior economist Alberto Ramos said.