Venezuelans approved on Sunday a referendum on changing the wording of the country's constitution from "the president may be reelected only once" to simply "the president may be reelected."
The country's election authority said that with 94.2% of ballots counted, 54.4% had voted for the amendment and 45.6% against, adding that turnout was 70% of the 17 million registered voters.
"On February 15 we turned a new page in the history of our country. The results of the referendum showed a decisive victory for the people, for revolution," Chavez told the crowd. "We won a great victory."
The Venezuelan president, who recently celebrated 10 years in power, also read a telegram of congratulations from his hero, Cuban revolutionary leader Fidel Castro, and declared the whole week a national holiday.
Chavez will now be able to run for a third term, to last seven years, in December 2012.
