CARACAS (Reuters) – Venezuela’s opposition leaders said on Wednesday they feared persecution over post-election protests and the U.S. government backed their call for a recount, saying it had not decided if it would recognize President-elect Nicolas Maduro.

The razor-thin victory by Maduro in Sunday’s presidential vote has been rejected by his rival, Henrique Capriles, who is alleging thousands of irregularities at polling centers and wants a full audit of the ballots.

CARACAS (Reuters) – Venezuela’s opposition leaders said on Wednesday they feared persecution over post-election protests, but President-elect Nicolas Maduro promised to protect his rival despite their vicious election dispute.

Maduro’s razor-thin victory in a presidential vote has not been recognized by Henrique Capriles, who is demanding a recount and alleging thousands of irregularities at poll stations.

CARACAS, April 16 (Reuters) – Venezuelan President-elect
Nicolas Maduro accused the opposition on Tuesday of planning a
coup against him after seven government supporters were killed
in violent clashes over his disputed election victory.

Opposition leader Henrique Capriles has demanded a full
recount of votes from Sunday’s election after official results
showed a narrow victory for Maduro, who is late socialist
President Hugo Chavez’s hand-picked successor.

CARACAS, April 16 (Reuters) – Violent clashes over
Venezuela’s disputed presidential election have killed four
people, the state news agency said on Tuesday, as both sides in
the stand-off planned rival demonstrations.

The deaths occurred when hundreds of protesters took to the
streets in various parts of the capital, Caracas, and in other
cities on Monday, blocking streets, burning tires and clashing
with security forces, in some cases.

CARACAS, April 15 (Reuters) – Late socialist leader Hugo
Chavez’s chosen successor Nicolas Maduro won Venezuela’s
presidential election by a whisker but now faces opposition
protests plus a host of economic and political challenges in the
OPEC nation.

The 50-year-old former bus driver, whom Chavez named as his
preferred heir before dying from cancer, edged out opposition
challenger Henrique Capriles by winning 50.7 percent of the
votes in the election on Sunday. Capriles won 49.1 percent
support, a difference of just 235,000 ballots.

CARACAS, April 14 (Reuters) – Nicolas Maduro, a former bus
driver who became late socialist leader Hugo Chavez’s protege,
narrowly won Venezuela’s presidential election on Sunday but his
rival refused to accept the result and demanded a recount.

The controversy raised fears of political unrest in
Venezuela, an OPEC nation of 29 million people with the world’s
biggest oil reserves, although there was no immediate trouble.

By Andrew Cawthorne

(Reuters) – Venezuelan acting President Nicolas Maduro and opposition candidate Henrique Capriles square off in Sunday’s election to determine who will succeed socialist leader Hugo Chavez, who died of cancer last month.

Following is information about the candidates and their policies:

NICOLAS MADURO

* A former labor union leader who used to drive a bus for the Caracas public transport system, the burly and mustachioed Maduro is a staunch Chavez loyalist chosen by him as his preferred successor.

CARACAS (Reuters) – Fresh flowers were placed and new candles burning on Sunday at the “Saint Hugo Chavez” shrine in Caracas where devotees of the late socialist leader prayed for his last wishes to be fulfilled in the presidential vote.

Before succumbing to cancer last month, Chavez urged his millions of followers to vote for then-Vice President Nicolas Maduro as the flag bearer of socialism should he die.

CARACAS (Reuters) – Venezuelan acting President Nicolas Maduro and opposition candidate Henrique Capriles square off in an election on Sunday to determine who will succeed socialist leader Hugo Chavez, who died of cancer last month.

Following is information about the two candidates and their policies:

NICOLAS MADURO

* A labour union leader who used to drive a bus for the Caracas public transport system, the burly and moustachioed Maduro, 50, is a staunch Chavez loyalist chosen by him as his preferred successor.

CARACAS (Reuters) – Venezuelan opposition candidate Henrique Capriles denied on Wednesday accusations from acting President Nicolas Maduro that he would scrap popular welfare policies if he wins Sunday’s election.

Social “missions” in poor areas, from subsidized groceries to Cuban-staffed medical clinics, were a mainstay of the late Hugo Chavez’s 14-year socialist rule and kept his popularity high.