VENZUELA: Eight candidates opposing Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez called off a primary election set for Sunday, saying they had unanimously agreed to support the front-runner and best-financed among them, governor Manuel Rosales.
The announcement is seen as yielding to the financial and political costs of holding a primary and to the reality that Mr Rosales stands the best chance against Mr Chavez in the December 3rd presidential race.
Previously, Mr Rosales, the governor of Zulia state, and seven other politicians had decided to participate in a winner-take-all primary to choose a single candidate whom they all would support.
The presidential campaign kicks off this week, and Mr Chavez is expected to file for re-election on Saturday. The former army paratrooper, who took power in 1999 and has survived a coup attempt, a crippling general strike and a recall election, is favourite to win another term.
According to one recent poll, Mr Rosales (53) trails Mr Chavez in preference polls, with only 9 per cent of likely respondents saying they would vote for him, compared with Mr Chavez's 56 per cent support.
Mr Chavez, a harsh critic of US policy, has built a strong following among the poor for his use of the nation's oil wealth to promote health, education, housing and discount food social programmes.
Mr Rosales acknowledged in interviews on Wednesday that he faced an uphill battle and that "time is short". But in an acceptance speech he hammered away at what some analysts say are Mr Chavez's vulnerabilities: his massive foreign aid programmes and the government-approved take-overs of land and buildings.
"The government wants to be the owner of all private property," Mr Rosales said. "We will distribute land to the peasants but we will buy it in such a way as to respect the principle of private property, just as we will respect those of human rights and social justice."
One Chavez official who asked not to be named found it notable that Mr Rosales was recognising the importance of including land reform in his campaign, calling it an admission that Mr Chavez had scored important points with his redistribution policies.
Mr Rosales is a lifelong politician who enjoys solid support in Zulia, a prosperous oil- and cattle-producing state. His fiery anti-Chavez oratory, plus his visibility and financial resources as governor, propelled him to the top of the list of challengers.
The challenger with second-best poll numbers after Mr Rosales, attorney and talk show host Julio Borges, said on Wednesday that he will be Mr Rosales's running mate for vice-president.
In a television interview, Rosales promised to devote one-fifth of oil revenues to providing housing and other benefits to the poor and the "impoverished middle-class", an acknowledgment of the basis of Mr Chavez's appeal. If elected, Mr Rosales would halt all foreign oil giveaway programmes, including sales of discounted oil to Cuba, until Venezuela reduces its high poverty rate. Mr Chavez also sells oil at a discount to 15 Caribbean nations.