In Venezuela, an Unconvincing Presidential Victory

Venezuelan interim President Nicolas Maduro's narrow margin of victory in the April 14 presidential election will undermine his ability to address the country's difficult political and economic challenges. His opponent, opposition leader Henrique Capriles Radonski, has refused to accept the election results without a formal audit, which Maduro has accepted. Official results show that Maduro won by only 1.6 percentage points.

Despite the closeness of the election, Maduro was Hugo Chavez's chosen successor and as such, he was expected to win. However, the majority of his political credibility has been derived from Chavez's patronage. As a less popular politician with a range of difficult decisions ahead of him, Maduro will have to work doubly hard to maintain credibility as a leader, control a historically fractious group of politicians and address his country's major economic challenges.