Caracas, Mar 20 (Prensa Latina) With just three weeks to go before the Venezuelan presidential elections, the first polling surveys show an advantage for the socialists and their allies against the opposition bloc.
Two surveys released here coincide in an advantage of more than 10 points for Nicolas Maduro, who is the Republics current acting president and candidate for the United Socialist Party of Venezuela (PSUV) and its revolutionary allies.
The firm Hinterlaces revealed after a survey conducted on March 11 and 16 that if elections were held today, Maduro would get the support of 53 percent of the electorate.
Meanwhile, opposition candidate Henrique Capriles, who was already defeated once by Commander Hugo Chavez on October 7, is backed by 35 percent of the electorate, with an 18 point advantage for the Socialist candidate.
On the other hand, a Datanalisis poll published by Barclays Investment Bank showed 49.2-percent support for Maduro compared with 34.8 percent for Capriles, which represents a 14.4-percent gap.
In this regard, the Head of the Hugo Chavez Campaign Command, Jorge Rodriguez, said that already there are signs of frustration in opposition sectors, taking into account that the deadline for campaign activity is limited to April 2 to 11.
However, in a clear violation of National Electoral Council (CNE) regulations, Capriles began visiting several states starting last weekend, in an attempt to close the gap on the road to the presidency.