Maduro Urges Obama To Halt CIA Assassination 'Plot' In Venezuela

[HuffingtonPost]

By Daniel Wallis                

CARACAS, March 17 (Reuters) - Venezuela's acting president  urged U.S. President Barack Obama to stop what he called a plot  by the Pentagon and the Central Intelligence Agency to kill his  opposition rival and trigger a coup ahead of an April 14  election.                

Nicolas Maduro said the plan was to blame his opponent's  murder on the OPEC nation's government and to "fill Venezuelans  with hate" as they prepare to vote following the death of  socialist leader Hugo Chavez.                

The United States denied the claim. "We categorically reject  allegations of U.S. government involvement in any plot to harm  anyone in Venezuela," State Department spokesman Patrick  Ventrell said.                

Maduro, a 50-year-old former bus driver and union leader,   first mentioned a plot against his rival, Henrique Capriles,  last week. He blamed it on former Bush administration officials  Roger Noriega and Otto Reich. Both rejected the allegations as  untrue, outrageous and defamatory.                

"I call on President Obama - Roger Noriega, Otto Reich,  officials at the Pentagon and at the CIA are behind a plan to  assassinate the right-wing presidential candidate to create  chaos," Maduro said in a TV interview broadcast on Sunday.                

Maduro, who is Chavez's preferred successor as president,  said the purpose of the plot was to set off a coup and that his  information came from "a very good source."                                

The acting president hopes to win next month's vote partly  by riding a wave of grief from supporters over the death of the  charismatic but divisive Chavez, who died on March 5 aged 58  after a two-year battle with cancer.                

During his 14 years in power, the former soldier often  denounced U.S. plots against him and his "revolution." Critics  dismissed those claims as a smokescreen to keep voters focused  on a sense of "imperialist" threat.                

Capriles, who kicked off the opposition's campaign with big  rallies in the provinces over the weekend, said Maduro would be  to blame if anything happened to him.                

The election campaign has had a particularly acrimonious  start, with both sides accusing each other of dirty tricks and  both candidates landing very personalized blows.                                

UPHILL BATTLE                

Capriles, a 40-year-old centrist state governor who cites  Brazil as his economic model for Venezuela, accuses Maduro of  being a poor imitation of Chavez and of using his boss's death  as a mawkish campaign tool ahead of the vote.                

"Nicolas, I know you're watching me ... Listen, I'm going to  destroy you with votes. Here are the people!" he told a crowd in  the western city of Merida. "You don't have any people, kid,  because they were followers of the president."                

Capriles has conceded he faces an uphill battle, given the  emotion around Chavez's death and the boost that his personal  blessing gave Maduro. Two recent opinion polls gave the acting  president a lead of more than 10 percentage points. Both were  conducted before Chavez's death.                

Maduro has sought to emulate the common touch that helped  the late president forge a deep emotional bond with many voters,  but has struggled - beyond copying Chavez's bombastic rhetoric  against foes at home and abroad.                

In the interview, recorded at the military museum where  Chavez's body was carried in a funeral procession on Friday  after 10 days of mourning, Maduro said he had cried more when  Chavez died than when his own parents passed away.                

As the interview ended, he shed a few more tears.                

Also on Sunday, in another move that was reminiscent of the  late president, he sent his first messages from his new official  Twitter account, @NicolasMaduro.                

"Here I am fulfilling the call of the Supreme Commander,  assuming his commitment, which we will all complete together.  Together we are all Chavez!"                

The late leader's @chavezcandanga Twitter account drew more  than 4 million followers before his death - making it the second  most-followed presidential account after Obama's.                

In the latest of many tributes to Chavez, state TV played  highlights on Sunday of his quirky, hours-long "Alo Presidente"  ("Hello President") show, in which he used to meet voters, tell  anecdotes, croon folk songs and bait his critics.                

Maduro has said that if he wins the election he will revive  the format, under the name "Bolivarian Dialogue."                

At stake in the election is not only the future of Chavez's  leftist revolution but also the continuation of Venezuelan oil  subsidies and other aid crucial to the economies of leftist  allies around Latin America, from Cuba to Bolivia.                

Venezuela boasts the world's largest oil reserves.     (Additional reporting by Deisy Buitrago; Editing by Cynthia  Osterman)

Via: HuffingtonPost