Leaders of various countries Monday called for respect for the results of Venezuela's referendum which showed President Hugo Chavez survived the recall,but the United States refused to comment on the issue.

Brazilian Foreign Minister Celso Amorim expressed satisfaction on Monday over the referendum which was held "in a legitimate way",saying that his country hopes the Venezuelan opposition and the US side will respect the outcome.

Amorim was accompanying Brazilian President Luis Inacio Lula daSilva to attend a ceremony in which Leonel Fernandez took oath as new president of the Dominican Republic.

He said the recognition of international observer missions had guaranteed "the cleanness" of the referendum, although the opposition had deemed Chavez's victory as "fraudulent" but without presenting any evidence.

According to results released by Venezuela's electoral authorities on Monday with 94.49 percent of the vote counted, 58.25 percent of the electorate voted for Chavez to remain in office.

The international observing mission of the Organization of American States (OAS) and the nonprofit Carter Center validated the results and called on people to accept them.

The two institutions pointed out they did not find "severe situations of intimidation or violence affecting the will of the electors and want to highlight the clear evidence of peaceful coexistence of the followers of the political forces involved."

At a joint press conference in Venezuelan capital Caracas, former US President Jimmy Carter said "now it is a responsibility of all the Venezuelans to accept the results and work together in the future."

OAS Secretary General Cesar Gaviria pointed out that the mission of observers has not found yet "any element of fraud" nor has it received "precise denunciations" on the matter.

Argentina, Colombia and Spain all have sent congratulations to Chavez for his victory.

A commnunique from the Argentine Foreign Ministry said the Argentine government congratulated Chavez on his victory and lauded the massive and peaceful participation of Venezuelans in the voting.

Private news agency "DyN" reported Monday that Argentine President Nestor Kirchner talked with Chavez by phone during the weekend. After learning results of the referendum, Kirchner expressed satisfaction.

Colombian President Alvaro Uribe and Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero also congratulated Chavez. The Spanish government has invited Chavez to pay a visit to "relaunch"the bilateral relations with "the united Europe".

Costa Rica's Presidency Minister Ricardo Toledo said Monday that his country was satisfied with the referendum result.

"The fact that the referendum had come to a happy end with a result validated by the Organization of American States will bring tranquillity to American political environment," he said.

Also on Monday, Uruguayan legislators made a call for peace in Venezuela and respect for the outcome of the recall referendum.

Senator Reinaldo Gargano said it is important to respect the decision of the Venezuelan people.

"Now they have the answer of all the Venezuelans: whether they like Chavez or not; whether I like him or not, he has been elected by the people and this decision has to be respected," he said.

But the United States declined to comment on the results of Venezuela's recall referendum.

"We are following the developments closely, and while the preliminary results have been put forward, they have not been verified by the National Electoral Council yet. So I think it is alittle too early for us at this point to be making any final judgments," State Department spokesman Tom Casey said at a news briefing on Monday.

"We are also looking forward to hearing from definitive statements from the observer teams, from the Carter Center and the Organization of American States," Casey said.

The Venezuelan opposition rejected Chavez's victory, saying they would contest the outcome.

"We firmly and categorically reject the result ... we're going to collect the evidence to prove to Venezuela and the world the gigantic fraud which has been committed against the will of the people," opposition leader Henry Ramos Allup told a news conference.

Two of the five National Election Council directors announced they disagreed with the results because the ballots had not been properly audited.

Source: Xinhua