Manuel Rosales. AFP PHOTO

The odds do not look promising.

Rosales, governor of oil-producing Zulia state who formed a party - A New Time - for the election, is the only significant rival to the popular Chavez, but he has trailed Chavez by 18 to 35 points in most opinion polls.

"People are scared because they feel pressured, we could say persecuted in some cases. They are intimidated in different parts of the government," Rosales told Reuters in an interview during a campaign stop on the Caribbean coast.

Several newspaper opinion pieces this week have said voters fear government retribution if they vote against Chavez.

Rosales aims to encourage reticent Venezuelans to overcome these fears by offering himself as a viable alternative to Chavez, who is bitterly opposed by a significant minority despite strong support from the majority.

His slogan is "Dare to!," a catch phrase in hip-hop style campaign songs that blare from loudspeakers at his rallies.
Rosales has not done much to flesh out his policies but he shares some of Chavez' populist tendencies. He promises to dole out oil wealth by giving poor families credit cards that would tap directly into 20 percent of the income from oil sales.

The veteran politician has stayed largely quiet about the United States, a constant target of Chavez' fiery rhetoric.

He frequently urges voters to be brave and challenge the charismatic president. Despite their fears, Rosales, 54, said Venezuelans should have faith in the impartiality of the vote.

"On the proviso that the vote is secret, then, ultimately, they are going to choose the candidate they like more," said the father of 10, traveling through fishing villages in a sports utility vehicle.

LOVE OF SWEETS

Despite being inundated by cellphone calls and supporters wanting to chat as he tried to tuck into fried fish at a restaurant in Rio Caribe village, Rosales kept his composure.

The short, stocky former schoolteacher asked for dessert, quipping he had not lost much weight on the campaign trail thanks to his love of cakes and pastries.

Although Chavez has largely tolerated a hostile press and satisfied international inspectors about the fairness of elections since he came to power in 1999, critics have pointed to growing restraints on freedom of expression.

The government has kept black lists of people who backed a recall referendum against Chavez in 2004, and many complain they were fired from public sector jobs for seeking the vote to oust him. Leaders of the Sumate civil rights group which backed the referendum are on trial for treason.

ENCOURAGING VOTERS

The incumbent has also stressed that there is no room for non-Chavez voters in the army or the massive oil sector, which supplies about 12 percent of U.S. oil imports.

"The important thing is that the rules are clear, that the secret ballot and the people's will are respected so that the winner and loser understand there was no tampering."

Venezuelan elections are often bedeviled by claims of fraud, but Rosales is playing down the possibility as he tries to mobilize an opposition with a track record of abstention.

Opposition fears about the fairness of the ballot have focused on the use of fingerprint reading machines and the impartiality of the National Electoral Commission. The European Union said on Wednesday it was confident the ballot would be kept secret.

Chavez is hugely popular for lavishing the country's oil wealth on clinics and schools for the poor majority, courting the vote in long-neglected shantytowns.

But Rosales said his opponent's campaign was "politically corrupt because of the way it uses the government infrastructure, money and operations."