The US requests Chávez to take opposition into account

The United States and Cuba applauded the Venezuelan presidential election held on Sunday, in which President Hugo Chávez was reelected.

The United States government urged Chávez to take opposition into consideration. "We believe that the stances of more that six million people who voted the opposition should be taken into account in the future," William Ostick, spokesperson of the US Department of State asserted in an e-mail, AFP reported.

For his part, Raúl Castro, President of Cuba, congratulated his Venezuelan counterpart for his "historic triumph," and reaffirmed the "solidarity and unyielding support" of the Cuban government to President Chávez.

Moreover, several Latin American governments also celebrated the election results.

Argentina's President Cristina Fernández was the first Latin American President who congratulated President Chávez. She ratified "the decision to keep working for the strengthening of integration in Latin America."

"Chávez wins! Long live Venezuela, long live the Great Motherland, long live the Bolivarian Revolution!" Ecuador's President, Rafael Correa posted on his Twitter account.

Evo Morales, President of Bolivia remarked that "President Chávez triumph was also a triumph for the countries of the Bolivarian Alliance for the Peoples of Our America (ALBA) and for Latin America."

The governments of Colombia and El Salvador also saluted President Chávez for his electoral triumph.

For his part, Hong Lei, spokesperson of the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said on Monday in a press conference in Beijing that the Chinese government hopes to take bilateral relations to a new level.