Before he died, Hugo Chavez said he wanted Nicolas Maduro to succeed him and carry on his program of Bolivarian Socialism.  Buoyed by that endorsement, Maduro eked out a narrow win over his nearest competitor in Venezuela’s Presidential Election.

With more than 99 percent of the vote counted, Maduro had 50.6 percent to conservative regional governor Enrique Capriles’s 49.1 percent.  That tiny margin of victory is going to embolden rivals from the conservative political opposition who see little of his predecessor’s mass appeal.  And rivals within Maduro’s United Socialist Front could very well be looking for their chances to advance.

Although Maduro utilized much of the anti-American zeal of his mentor Chavez, demonizing the US as often as possible, he’s already signaling that it’s time for a change in that contentious relationship.

American politician Bill Richardson was in Caracas as a representative of the Organization of American States, said in an interview that Mr. Maduro called him aside after a meeting of election observers on Saturday and asked him to carry a message.

“He said, ‘We want to improve the relationship with the U.S., regularize the relationship,’ ” Mr. Richardson said.

The US is a major consumer of Venezuelan oil.