Venezuela opposition figure warns against vote unrest
A senior Venezuelan opposition leader warned Thursday against a repeat of last year's deadly street clashes after this weekend's legislative election, which he said the government may try to win by a "coup".
"Venezuela is a bomb ready to explode," Henrique Capriles, a former presidential candidate and leader of the Justice First party, told AFP in an interview.
He warned that some in the opposition could take to the streets after Sunday's vote in the poverty-stricken Latin American country.
"I do not want an outbreak of social unrest in my country. I do not want a coup d'etat. I want a constitutional, peaceful, electoral and democratic solution."
Polls suggest the coalition that includes Capriles's party could win a majority in the National Assembly for the first time since late socialist leader Hugo Chavez took power in 1999.
That would signal a political shift after 16 years of rule by Chavez and his successor, current President Nicolas Maduro.
Maduro took over as president after winning an election following Chavez's death from cancer in 2013.
Venezuela's economic and security situation has since gone from bad to worse as the prices of the oil on which the government relies has plunged. Inflation and poverty have soared with families suffering shortages of basic supplies.
In early 2014 several months of protests against Maduro's government left 43 people dead.
"If they aim to transform Sunday's election into taking to the streets a second time, we will not join in," said Capriles. The influential governor of the large state of Miranda, Capriles is campaigning but not running for a seat in the assembly himself.
"On Sunday night if some crazy person goes out and tries to transform the election into something other than what Venezuelans demand with their vote, rest assured I will immediately come out and say that such people do not represent me nor my supporters."
The opposition says most Venezuelans want a change of leadership, citing polls that indicate it could win Sunday's vote.
"What can the government do? A coup? It could," said Capriles. "But who will do it and how? That is the great unknown of this Sunday."