On Sunday night, the Venezuelan presidential elections were a cliffhanger. Nicolas Maduro, the chosen successor by Hugo Chavez, won by the narrowest of margins, around 300,000 votes. He got 50.66 percent of the vote against 49.1 percent by his opponent, Henrique Capriles. The election was far closer than anyone expected. Ten days ago, polls were showing Maduro as much as ten points ahead, and earlier as much as 20 points ahead.

Henrique Capriles has said he will not accept the results without a recount.

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