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Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez formalizes his reelection bid

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CARACAS, Venezuela -- Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez registered Monday with the National Electoral Commission to face challenger Henrique Capriles in the October election.

Chavez, who recently completed a round of radiation therapy for a recurrence of his pelvic cancer, addressed thousands of red-shirted supporters afterward in a downtown plaza, promising to win the contest ‘by knockout.’

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‘What’s at stake is not just what we’ve accomplished but what we will accomplish in the future,’ said the 57-year-old socialist party leader, who is seeking another six-year term to ‘deepen’ his socialist transformation of Venezuela’s government. ‘We will defeat the squalid ones, the bourgeoisie.’

Chavez, a former military officer first elected in 1998, spoke with a firm voice when he told the crowd his radiation treatment was a success. He said his goal was to tally 10 million of the election’s 18 million potential votes

Opposition leader Capriles on Sunday marched through the capital with hundreds of thousands of supporters as he registered his candidacy and formally launched his bid to win the Oct. 7 election.

‘We’re going to choose not between two men, but between two life options, between a sluggish and violent present or progress for all,’ Capriles said.

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