Chavez successor leads opponent in Venezuela vote
Purchase this article for republication
Buy SPH photos
Acting Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro speaks during an interview with Venevision television network in Caracas on March 13, 2013, in this handout photo provided by the Miraflores Palace. Mr Maduro, who succeeded the late Hugo Chavez as Venezuela's interim president, has an 18-point lead over the opposition's Henrique Capriles ahead of mid-April elections, a polling firm said on Tuesday. -- FILE PHOTO: REUTERS
CARACAS (AFP) - Mr Nicolas Maduro, who succeeded the late Hugo Chavez as Venezuela's interim president, has an 18-point lead over the opposition's Henrique Capriles ahead of mid-April elections, a polling firm said on Tuesday.
The private Venezuelan pollster Hinterlaces said 53 per cent of Venezuelans would vote for Mr Maduro - Mr Chavez's vice-president and hand-picked successor - while 35 per cent would vote for Mr Capriles.
That's an even bigger lead for Mr Maduro than in the last poll, published weeks before Mr Chavez lost his two-year battle with cancer.
In that survey, half of those questioned indicated they would vote for Mr Maduro, compared to 36 per cent for Mr Capriles.
