2000 Venezuelan presidential election

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General Elections Venezuela 2000 President for the period 2001-2007
Date						Sunday, 30 July 2000
Type						General (Presidencial, Regional and Legislative)
Period						10 January 2001-10 January 2007
Electoral demography
Population					24,169,807
Registered						11,720,660
Voters						6,600,196
Participation
							56.31 %7.1 %
Valid votes						6,288,578
Null vote						348.698
Results
			Hugo Chávez- MVR
			Patriotic Pole Fifth Republic Movement to Socialism Communist Party of Venezuela Independent solidarity Independent by the National Community Agricultural Action People ' s Electoral Movement Emerging People New Democratic Regime
			Votes			3 757 7732.3 %
									59.76 %
			Francisco Arias Cárdenas- LCR
			Coalition The Radical Cause FJAC Democratic Left National Integrity Movement Movement for Direct Democracy Red flag
			Votes			2 359 45932332.4 %
									37.52 %
State winner
22+D.C Hugo Chávez						1 Arias Cárdenas
President of Venezuela
Owner Hugo Chávez						Elect Hugo Chávez

The general elections of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela were held on Sunday, July 30, 2000. This was the third election under the new constitution of Venezuela adopted in 1999, being the first for elective positions (the previous ones were referendums). The presidential election for the head of state was held simultaneously, in turn with the regional, municipal and parliamentary elections, for this reason these elections are popularly called "mega elections." The most popular candidates, Hugo Chávez, president of the Republic, and Francisco Arias Cárdenas, governor of Zulia, led the attempted coup d'état on February 4, 1992.

In these elections, Hugo Chávez, the acting president of the republic, is re-elected for the Period (2001-2007), elections held only a year and a half after the initial presidential period, instead of after the previous five years (1999 -2004) established under the Constitution of Venezuela of 1961 but with the approval of the New Constitution of Venezuela of 1999 through the Referendum of December 15, 1999, elections are called to relegitimize all elected positions in compliance with the provisions of the new Magna Carta, of a new 6-year presidential period that would begin the following January 10.

Presidential election campaign

The electoral campaign was characterized by polarization like that of 1998, with fierce recriminations between Chávez and Arias Cárdenas, who were, according to predictions, the favorites in the electoral contest. Arias Cárdenas presented himself as the candidate of consensus for all sectors of society and declared that the "Bolivarian Revolution" had deviated from its origins. On the other hand, Chávez promised that he would strengthen said "revolution", stating that he would not vote for a traitor, which was how Chávez called Arias Cárdena after his dissidence after considering him as his 'revolution'. 'friend of the soul'.

The general process of 2000 was very different from the previous ones due to the absence of candidates from the traditional parties AD and COPEI, still affected by the electoral debacle of 1998. In addition to being the first presidential election held under the framework of the new Constitution promulgated in 1999. Only three candidates presented themselves instead of the ten who ran on previous occasions.

Candidates

• Hugo Chávez, a military president in office opting for re-election, was supported by the same parties in the 1999 elections, the Polo Patriotic coalition.
• Francisco Arias Cárdenas, also a military, among the outstanding charges in the past was the governor of the Zulia state, in fact resigned to this office to dispute these elections, however his term as governor expired, because the regional elections were held simultaneously with the nationals.
• Claudio Fermín, a sociologist, former mayor of the Libertador municipality of Caracas and former presidential candidate in the last two elections, did not receive great support as did Arias Cárdenas, former ally of Chávez. Chávez and Arias Cárdenas were military and comrades of arms, participated in the coup d'etat of 1992, both were equally personal and political friends, but this situation broke down, deciding to be rivals of electoral campaign. Fermin and Arias Cárdenas both held elective positions previously, the first as mayor and the second as governor.

Results

The result of this election did not surprise many, the President of Venezuela Hugo Rafael Chávez Frías (originally voted during the 1998 election) was elected for a second 6-year term as stipulated by the constitution, his term began on 10 January 2001.

In the parliamentary elections, the majority of the supporters of Hugo Chávez were the winners, therefore now the elected president enjoyed an absolute majority in the chamber with more than two-thirds of the seats going to those nominated by the Polo Patriotico coalition, although well after (in 2001) was reduced to just over 50%, because several deputies elected under the Chavista coalition went over to the opposition. In the regional positions of governors and mayors, Chávez's supporters were also elected in the majority of states and municipalities of the republic, in fact the opposition only obtained 7 of the 23 governorships: Amazonas, Apure, Carabobo, Miranda, Monagas, Yaracuy and Zulia.