US Assistant Secretary of State Tom Shannon. BLOOMBERG NEWS PHOTO

"There was a clear winner that the opposition accepted," said Assistant Secretary of State for Western Hemispheric Affairs Tom Shannon, referring to Venezuela's December 3 presidential election that gave anti-US firebrand Hugo Chavez a second six-year term in office. He won by a 63-37 percent margin.

"There was a clear winner. That's good for Venezuela and that's good for the region," Shannon added.

He said Zulia state Governor Manuel Rosales also had managed to rally the opposition behind him with nearly 40 percent of the vote.

"In a country of Venezuela's size, that's significant. Therefore that can create an interesting moment in Venezuela," the US official said.

"Manuel Rosales is an opposition leader who is committed to democracy, committed to democratic institutions who can't be characterised as the Venezuelan government has characterised some opposition leaders as 'golpistas'" (putschist).

Shannon said Rosales' good showing in the election "is an opportunity for the Venezuelan government to begin a kind of dialogue with its political opposition."

On Tuesday, Venezuelan Vice President Jose Vicente Rangel said his government would remain "very cautious" with regards to Shannon's recent comments that the United States wanted to improve its relations with Venezuela.

US-Venezuelan relations have been on a rocky road since Chavez took power eight years ago with his populist, pro-Cuba and virulently anti-US rhetoric.

Shannon in October replaced conservative Roger Noriega in his State Department post.