Supporters of late President Hugo Chavez will punish opposition leader Henrique Capriles for his anti-government barbs at a vote next month likely to produce a bigger win for the socialists than last year, a campaign strategist for Capriles’s rival forecast.

The build-up to Venezuela’s April 14 vote for a successor to Chavez, who died of cancer two weeks ago, has been characterised by acrimonious personal attacks between Capriles and acting president and Chavez protege Nicolas Maduro.

Andres Izarra, a senior member of Maduro’s campaign team, said that had galvanised ‘Chavista’ supporters behind Maduro’s candidacy and put him on course for a victory larger than Chavez’s 11-point win over Capriles last October.

“Even the moderate Chavistas are highly motivated, they’re really upset over the loss of Chavez,” Izarra, a friend and former minister of Chavez, told Reuters.

“They’re indignant at the opposition’s attitude, the way they’ve mocked Chavez’s death. People are furious with Capriles. They’re going to make him pay.”

On Monday, Capriles berated Maduro as a weak imitation of Chavez and a puppet of Havana.

Taking a more hostile line than in his presidential bid last year, Capriles has accused Maduro of lying over Chavez’s final days to minimize the gravity of his cancer while preparing behind the scenes for an election campaign to replace him.

Maduro, his supporters and Chavez’s relatives have rounded on Capriles, accusing him of insulting their grief. Capriles has said he is sorry for any offense that may have been perceived by the family, but repeated his attacks on Maduro.

“I think we can win by a bigger margin than Chavez’s over Capriles... but there will be no triumphalism,” said Izarra.

The only survey by a major local pollster since Chavez’s death has justified the government’s optimism, giving Maduro a 14-point lead over Capriles.

But the opposition is hoping to win over voters and counter the sympathy effect after Chavez’s death by drawing a distinction between Maduro and his hugely popular former boss. They are trying to depict him as an incompetent manager unable to fix a myriad of grassroots problems from potholes to crime.