Chavez's supporters vow to hurry 'new socialism'

CARACAS, Venezuela -- Supporters of President Hugo Chavez vowed Monday to accelerate Venezuela's shift to a "new socialism" after claiming victory in elections that were expected to give pro-Chavez politicians all 167 seats in the National Assembly.

Several of Venezuela's major opposition parties boycotted the vote on Sunday, which had an estimated turnout of 25 percent and is likely to further polarize Venezuelan society. The country has been deeply divided by the leftist leader's rhetoric, his alliance with the Cuban leader Fidel Castro and his efforts to seize unproductive farms for poor farmers, start state-funded cooperatives and expand social programs for the poor.

"Silence united Venezuelans," said Gerardo Blyde of Justice First, one of several leading opposition parties that pulled out days before the vote, complaining the voting system could not be trusted.

The U.S. -- long skeptical of Chavez's commitment to democracy and his leftist policies -- cast doubt on the results.

"Given that rate of abstention, plus expressions of concern by prominent Venezuelans, we would see that this reflects a broad lack of confidence in the impartiality and transparency of the electoral process," State Department spokesman Adam Ereli said on Monday.

Official results were still pending Monday, but internal tallies showed Chavez's party won 114 seats and the remainder went to aligned parties, said Willian Lara, a leader of Chavez's Fifth Republic Movement party.

That would give the party the needed two-thirds majority to allow it to amend the constitution. Some lawmakers have said they hope to extend term limits for all offices, including the president.

Pedro Lander, a newly elected congressman, said Monday the new National Assembly will aim to "deepen the revolutionary process more and more."

Chavez has accused the opposition of plotting the boycott with the help of the United States as part of a larger plot to "destabilize" the country. Both Washington and the opposition have denied the accusations.

The head of Venezuela's electoral authority defended the vote and criticized the opposition and the country's private media.

"The direct consequence of having carried out transparent elections ... is a calculated attack, scorn, insults and finger- pointing," said Jorge Rodriguez, president of the National Electoral Council.

The turnout -- lower than in 1998 and 2000 congressional votes -- came despite a government effort to get Venezuelans to the polls.

"We're not satisfied with the results of the elections," Foreign Minister Ali Rodriguez said Monday.

Chavez' officials also blamed an explosion on a major oil pipeline Saturday on government opponents and said the U.S. meddled in the elections through the nonprofit group Sumate, which receives money from the Washington-based National Endowment for Democracy, a private group funded by Congress.

Maria Corina Machado, who leads Sumate and who declared the vote "illegitimate," goes on trial Tuesday along with three other Sumate members on charges they conspired to destroy the republican system. The criminal allegations stem from a $31,000 contribution from the National Endowment for Democracy.

The group's leaders say they committed no crime and the funds were used for pro-democracy courses.

The Organization of American States and European Union together had 220 observers on hand.

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