(JTA) — Venezuelan opposition leader Henrique Capriles, the grandson of Holocaust survivors, is calling for a recount after narrowly losing the country’s presidential election.
Nicolas Maduro, the acting president and the preferred successor of late President Hugo Chavez, was declared the winner of Sunday’s election with 50.7 vote to 49.1 percent for Capriles, representing a difference of 235,000 ballots.
In calling for the recount, Capriles cited voting irregularities. He has not accepted Maduro’s declaration of victory, Reuters reported.
Chavez died of cancer on March 5. Maduro will serve out the remainder of his six-year term.
Last October in national elections, Capriles won 44 percent of the vote in losing to Chavez by 11 percentage points.
During the 2012 presidential campaign, state-run media urged Venezuelans to reject "international Zionism" and vote against Capriles, describing him as having “a platform opposed to our national and independent interests."
Chavez also said the Mossad, Israel’s secret service, was out to kill him and accused Israel of financing Venezuela’s opposition. Government media described Capriles as “Jewish-Zionist bourgeoisie."
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