Venezuelans to vote in Chavez's toughest election yet

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez (C) holds Simon Bolivar's sword as he attends a press conference in Caracas, Venezuela, 06 October 2012

Venezuelans vote Sunday in the toughest election President Hugo Chavez has faced in almost 14 years in power after fresh-faced rival Henrique Capriles electrified the country's opposition.

Chavez, 58, retains a loyal following among the country's poor, who have propelled him to easy victories in past elections, but 40-year-old Capriles has narrowed the gap in opinion polls after an energetic door-to-door national campaign.

Weakened by a bout with cancer, the president stepped up his campaign this week, even dancing in the rain at a Caracas rally Thursday as he pleaded for another six-year term to seal his oil-funded socialist revolution.

Chavez, a fierce US critic, is a highly polarizing figure who survived a coup in 2002 and became popular with the long-neglected poor for using the country's vast oil wealth to fund health and education programs.

Mentored by Cuba's Fidel Castro, Chavez has become the leading voice of Latin America's left, railing against the US "empire" while befriending Iran and Syria. He also has used petro-dollars and cut-rate oil deals to build a network of diplomatic allies around the region.

Facing his biggest election challenge, Chavez has admitted making mistakes, vowing to "become a better president" if re-elected.

The business-friendly, center-left Capriles has hammered Chavez over the country's regular power outages, food shortages and runaway murder rate, which has risen to 50 homicides per 100,000 inhabitants.

The telegenic former Miranda state governor has vowed to unite the country, accusing Chavez of being "sick with power" and dividing the nation.

Capriles, who describes himself as David fighting Goliath, was picked by the opposition in an unprecedented primary election in February.

Chavez held a 10-point lead in the latest opinion poll, but Capriles has attracted huge crowds at rallies while other surveys have put them in a statistical dead heat.

Around 19 million voters are called to the polls. Some 140,000 troops have been deployed to prevent violence while alcohol sales are banned until Monday.

Election experts say the electronic voting system is fraud-proof, though Chavez charges that the "far right" plans to not recognize his victory if he wins.

While the opposition is better organized than in the past, Chavez counts on a well-oiled campaign operation, with supporters waking up voters with bugles.

Polls open at 6:00 am (1030 GMT) and close at 6:00 pm (2230 GMT), but people will be allowed to vote as long as there are lines.

Capriles pledges support for peace talks in Colombia and distance from Iran

Venezuelan opposition leader Henrique Capriles pledged to help Colombia in its peace talks with rebels and distance himself from Iran should he defeat President Hugo Chávez in an increasingly tight race ahead of Sunday's election.

The opposition candidate also wants to talk with Raul Castro over the presence of 40.000 Cuban workers in Venezuela

The government of neighbouring Colombia is due to start talks with FARC guerrillas this month in Oslo to try to end five decades of conflict. Chavez’s government, accused by Bogotá of backing the rebels in the past, supports the talks.

That has led to speculation that an opposition victory in Venezuela on Oct. 7 could damage prospects for peace in Colombia. But Capriles denied that was the case.

“A government led by us would accelerate the Colombia peace process. A progressive government in Venezuela will stop being a refuge for rebels, for armed groups,” he told a news conference in Caracas on Monday.

“We have a government that is an accomplice of the Colombian guerrillas. That will change.”

Capriles, who has mounted the strongest electoral challenge Chávez has faced during his 14 years in power, recently met Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos in Bogotá.

The opposition candidate also said that if he won he would demand the freedom of some 30 Venezuelans kidnapped in Colombia, and end any direct contacts with the rebels so as to not confuse the negotiations.

Among the half-a-dozen or so major local pollsters, most put Chávez ahead. But Capriles has been creeping up thanks to an energetic campaign, and two surveys give him a slight edge.

The 40-year-old governor, who would be Venezuela's youngest president, also said he would steer foreign relations away from Chávez's alliances with nations such as Iran and Belarus that the West views with suspicion.

“What do we have in common with Iran apart from producing oil? Or Belarus?” Capriles asked. ”Isn't its president a dictator? You tell me! We honoured (late Libyan leader Muammar) Gaddafi twice. Are those the relations Venezuelans want? No!“

Capriles said he would also try to sit down with Cuban President Raúl Castro to review the presence of more than 40,000 Cuban workers who are in Venezuela in exchange for oil supplies.

”And I've told the Russian ambassador here that we are going to stop buying weapons from Russia,” he added, referring to Chávez's multibillion-dollar arms purchases from Moscow.