Chavez rival cool as Venezuela vote fears spread

President Hugo Chavez's rival pledged to prevent fraud in today's election as he coolly dismissed an alleged sniper plot to assassinate him that has fuelled Venezuelans' fears of post-vote violence.

Manuel Rosales has promised to redistribute the OPEC nation's oil income and steer Venezuela away from the socialist "revolution" promised by the anti-US Chavez, who most polls favour to win re-election easily.

The gravelly voiced and stern-faced candidate united a fractured opposition in August and has quickly built a solid support base on a platform of oil-financed subsidies for families and promises to crack down on soaring crime.

But the odds are stacked against him beating Chavez, who has become hugely popular among the majority poor on the back of sweeping social spending and has a firm grip on key state institutions including the electoral authority.

Despite Rosales' assurances that he expects a clean vote, Venezuelans accustomed to turbulent politics steeled themselves for trouble, recalling a botched coup and four national strikes in the last five years.

Nervous shoppers emptied grocery stores in parts of the capital as they stocked up on food and water, the nation's supermarket association reported, saying the shelves were barest in the poor pro-Chavez parts of western Caracas.

Chavez, 52 and in power since 1999, fed the growing nervousness by announcing on Thursday a foiled plot to assassinate Rosales and pin the blame on his government in order to spark a crisis.

Rosales, 53, has a cool demeanor often described as uncharismatic in comparison to Chavez.