More than one million Venezuelans are expected to go to the polls Sunday to choose candidates for President Hugo Chavez' newly formed PSUV

More than one million Venezuelans are expected to go to the polls Sunday to choose candidates for President Hugo Chavez' newly formed United Socialist Party, in what experts say is a well-orchestrated strategy to win races in elections later this year. The vote will set the stage for Chavez loyalists to win gubernatorial and municipal races in November while shutting out candidates from opposition parties, which have been hampered by infighting and disorganization. To be sure, Chavez is facing his own difficulties in selecting single candidates for each race. Amid grumbling by party faithful, Chavez engineered special rules to maximize his influence and ensure that his anointed candidates emerge victorious. Chavez decreed that candidates could not run campaign ads in privately owned newspapers or television stations. Nor could they attack the other candidates.