Hugo Chavez has been resoundingly re-elected as President of Venezuela, capturing an ample mandate to extend a socialist revolution that challenges Washington's influence in Latin America.

Dressed in his trademark red shirt, Mr Chavez celebrated his second six-year term late last night from a balcony of the presidential palace after his challenger, Manuel Rosales, conceded defeat in yesterday's vote.

Mr Chavez dedicated his victory to the ailing Cuban leader Fidel Castro - whom he calls his "father" - and told a mass of cheering supporters that his landslide win was a bitter defeat for President Bush.

"Today we gave another lesson in dignity to the imperialists, it is another defeat for the empire of Mr Danger," he roared to the crowd. "It’s another defeat for the devil who tries to dominate the world."

The National Electoral Council said that Mr Chavez won 61 per cent of the vote while Mr Rosales, the governor of an oil-producing province who managed to unite the fractured opposition, won 38 per cent after nearly 80 per cent of the vote had been counted.

Chavez supporters fired off thunderous fireworks in the capital and drove through Caracas chanting, "Chavez isn't going anywhere".

The former soldier's clear victory is a blow to the United States and its attempts to maintain influence in a region it has long considered its backyard.

Mr Chavez is the fourth leftist to win an election in Latin America in the past five weeks. Ecuador’s Rafael Correa, who calls himself an ally of the Venezuelan, won a run-off last week after promising sweeping political reforms and Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva in Brazil and Daniel Ortega in Nicaragua also have won recent presidential elections.

Mr Chavez has won a loyal following among Venezuela's poor through multibillion-dollar social programmes that include subsidised food, free university education and cash benefits for single mothers.

Since he first won office in 1998, Chavez has increasingly dominated all branches of government, and his allies now control congress, state offices and the judiciary. Current law prevents him from running again in 2012 but he has said he plans to seek constitutional reforms that would include an end to presidential term limits.

Me Rosales, who for many opposition supporters was a bright hope to beat Chavez, acknowledged defeat but promised to keep fighting. He was greeted by cries of"coward" by some upset supporters as he left his campaign headquarters.

"We recognise they beat us today but we will continue the fight," said the 53-year-old, who drew his main support from the middle and upper classes in a polarised nation.

A retired army paratrooper who led a failed military rebellion before his 1998 election, Mr Chavez has survived a brief coup, an oil strike and scores of demonstrations during his years in power.

Having already taken on multinational oil giants to demand they hand more control to the state, Mr Chavez is now expected to press for more share of Venezuela’s vast oil and mineral resources and increase land distribution for the rural poor.

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