'Students' Disrupt Opposition Rally in Venezuela

Concern that Venezuela's regional elections could spur violence before or during the vote next Sunday rose after an opposition party that used to support President Hugo Chávez claimed that his supporters had disrupted a rally marking the end of the campaign.

The social democratic party, Podemos, which was once the second-ranking member of the ruling coalition but moved into opposition rejecting Chávez' proposals for multiple reforms of the Constitution in late 2007, claimed that students from a nearby college had attacked a rally sight in La Victoria, Aragua state.

Podemos Secretary General Secretary Ismael García said preparations for the rally were under way when a group took over the site. He claimed their "sabotage" had been orchestrated by local leaders of Chávez' ruling United Socialist Party of Venezuela (PSUV) including its candidate, Rafael Isea, who was finance minister for five months earlier this year before stepping down to campaign.

Aragua is a key state for both sides in the election, and all the more so in view of Podemos' once friendly but now prickly relationship with Chávez. He lambasts the party and other sympathizers who harbor misgivings about the PSUV as "traitors."

The incumbent governor, Henry Rosales, belongs to Podemos, was elected on a pro-Chávez ticket and is now seeking re-election to a second term in his own right. He has been adopted by other opposition parties as the single unity candidate in a straight fight with the PSUV – for whom losing the state would be an embarrassing reverse for Chávez' threats to "pulverize" his critics.

The government's campaign of allegations and accusations against Zulia State Governor Manuel Rosales continued. The president of the Inter-governmental Decentralization Fund (Fides), José Julián Villalba, filed a formal complaint with the comptroller committee at the Assembly claiming that Rosales had failed to carry out projects.

Rosales, who denies all charges and legally cannot run for a third consecutive term as governor, is standing for mayor of Maracaibo, the state capital of Zulia.

In another key state, Guárico, incumbent Governor Eduardo Manuitt has alleged that the National Guard and government officials illegally raided the premises of Fundamercado, a foundation providing food to poor people.

Manuitt, who was disowned by Chávez long before the campaign got under way, claimed that hundreds of sacks full of food destined for 21,000 people was taken away during the raid. His daughter, Lennys, is running for governor in his stead, nominated by Patria Para Todos (PPT), a pro-Chávez party that is challenging the PSUV in six states. In half those states, PPT is in alliance with the Venezuelan Communist Party (PCV), which is pro-Chávez but at odds with the PSUV.

Chávez created the PSUV to replace his old Fifth Republic Movement (MVR) as a monolithic party of all his supporters. His plan was for PPT, the PCV and a flock of other parties sympathetic to his cause to join the PSUV and disband. But that implied them vanishing off the political map, they were averse to do so, and have periodically adopted a more independent line since.