VHeadline.com correspondent Vanessa Carolina Marcano writes: After much expectation, rumors, waiting and "face-watching" on the media ... as is customary in these events ... the CNE released the first bulletin at 1:00 a.m. with about 92% of the votes counted ... showing the NO vote as the winning option, by a slight margin.

Soon after, in the presence of the international media, and in an nationally-broadcast TV 'chain,' President Chavez conceded defeat, stating that his proposal had "just not made it ... for now!"

He said that he would continue fighting for social change and congratulated the Venezuelan people and his adversaries on what he called a "pyrrhic victory" ... but warned that they should "administer this victory properly."

Chavez reflected upon the fact that the opposition had gained about 400,000 votes over the last presidential election results ... but especially focused on the loss of approximately 3 million votes from his own side in this election.

Once again, the exit polls and regular opinion polls got it all wrong ... but this is a definite time for reflection by both Chavistas and the opposition, since, according to the numbers, the biggest winner was abstention (only 8 million voters out of 16 million approx)!

Nevertheless, the big winner in Sunday's vote was Venezuelan democracy ... which is pronounced alive and well!