MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Chavez gets a taste of his won medicine

Manuel Rosales, the main opposition candidate in Venezuela's December's election claimed Thursday that President Hugo Chavez, running for re-election, has ordered his assassination.

"I'm putting the blame on Mr. Chavez for whatever may happen to me, because he has given the order to ambush me, to kill me, and if something happens the people will know it was one of Chavez's command" Rosales told reporters during a rally in Caracas.

"The people will take to the streets and bring down this government if they try to prevent me from becoming president of Venezuela. I'm not afraid of Chavez or his ambushes and I'm going to win the presidency of the republic" said Rosales, currently governor of the oil-rich state of Zulia.

On Thursday, the candidate - accompanied by a group of his supporters - toured a poor neighborhood in western Caracas that is mostly pro-Chavez. Rosales made the accusation days after apparent Chavez supporters threw rocks in the candidate's direction during his visit to the coastal town of Catia la Mar.

On December 3, some 16 million Venezuelans voters go to the polls to elect president for the mandate 2007-2013. Rosales' main backing comes from the country's middle- and upper-class minority but he is seeking to reach out to lower-income Venezuelans by visiting poor neighborhoods of Caracas and other large cities.

Over half the Venezuelan population is categorized as poor according to figures from the country's Statistics Institute which makes this segment is crucial for the December election. Chavez enjoys his strongest support in the low-income areas that Rosales has begun visiting.

President Chavez a close ally of Cuba's Castro has repeatedly accused the Bush administration of trying to attempt against his life.