His Excellency President-for-Life, Caudillo of the Bolivarians Hugo Chavez promised to expand his socialist agenda if he wins next weekend's election.With a week to go, Venezuela's presidential race looks close and tensions are rising. On Saturday, gunnies killed three pro-Capriles activists in Barinas state - the worst violence of the campaign.
"Yesterday, sadly, violence took three lives, something that should never have happened," Capriles told hundreds of thousands of exuberant supporters at a rally in Caracas that appeared to be the largest of his campaign.
"I want to tell their families, and those angels in heaven, that we are going to defeat violence on the 7th of October."
Capriles' Primero Justicia (Justice First) party said the assailants had fired from a van that witnesses identified as belonging to a state agency, after Chavez supporters had blocked an opposition motorcade.
The government did not admit fault in the shooting, but promised an investigation into what it said was an isolated incident in the South American nation of 29 million people.
"Anything that harms peace and stability must be condemned," Chavez's campaign chief Jorge Rodriguez said.