A leftist high school teacher's stunning victory in a mayoral race in Caracas, Venezuela, underlined voters' rejection of President Carlos Andres Perez in elections that followed a failed coup attempt by nine days.

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Projections from Sunday's vote also showed the governing Accion Democratica party losing as many as four governorships, slipping even in some of its traditional strongholds. Official results were expected later Monday.Perez tried to use the vote as a referendum on democracy and his leadership. But at least six out of 10 voters ignored his repeated calls to come to the polls, despite a mandatory voting law.

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