Tracy family via AP

A family photo shows Tim Tracy in Venezuela. The 35-year-old California filmmaker was arrested by Venezuelan authorities and accused of spying for the U.S., setting off a diplomatic battle between the countries.

CARACAS, Venezuela -- Venezuela brushed off criticism from President Barack Obama on Sunday and maintained its accusation that an American detainee in Caracas is a spy pretending to be a filmmaker.

During his visit to Latin America, Obama said on Saturday the allegations against Tim Tracy, 35, were "ridiculous."

This came a day after Venezuela's new socialist leader, Nicolas Maduro, labeled Obama "the grand chief of devils."

Venezuelan Interior Minister Miguel Rodriguez Torres insisted that intelligence agents tracking Tracy since late 2012 had uncovered ample evidence he was plotting with militant anti-government factions to destabilize Venezuela with violence.

Juan Barreto / AFP - Getty Images

Venezuela's President Nicolas Maduro had harsh words for U.S. President Barack Obama over the weekend. Obama says the Maduro government's allegation that a California filmmaker is a spy is "ridiculous." Maduro says Obama is the "grand chief of devils."

"When you want to do intelligence work in another country, all those big powers who do this type of spying, they often use the facade of a filmmaker, documentary maker, photographer or journalist," he told state TV.

"Because with that facade, they can go anywhere, penetrate any place."

Obama's comments about Tracy, and others questioning socialist Maduro's democratic credentials after last month's disputed presidential vote, have infuriated the government and revived accusations of "imperialist meddling."

Late on Saturday, Maduro's government issued a formal protest note, with Maduro's "devils" remark reminiscent of the tirades his mentor, late Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez, made against the U.S.

Maduro, a 50-year-old former bus driver who rose to be Chavez's foreign minister and vice president, has alternately railed against Washington in the same terms as Chavez and fanned prospects of a rapprochement by offering dialogue.

"I think he actually wants to improve relations with the North, but because he's vulnerable domestically right now, he needs to revive the old blood-and-thunder rhetoric to shore up support," said a Western diplomat in Caracas.

The Tracy case is a crucial test of Maduro's intentions toward a country that remains the main export market for the OPEC member's oil despite years of political hostility.

Friends and family of Tracy say he became passionately interested in Venezuelan politics and had excellent relations on both sides.

"Understandably, we have been living in a nightmare since a week ago last Thursday, when we feel our son/brother Timmy, a filmmaker, was mistakenly detained by Venezuelan authorities while attempting to return to the United States to attend his/our Dad's 80th birthday party," Tracy's family said in a written statement released to Reuters.

The family said that they had been communication with him and had that he had been treated well.

"We love and miss our son/ brother very much and want nothing more than to have him home safely as soon as possible," Tracy's family said.

Related:

• Parliamentary punch-up in Venezuela
• 7 die in Venezuela election protests
• Analysis: Major challenges await leader

Leo Ramirez / AFP - Getty Images

Opposition deputy Julio Borges (C) walks out after a fight with the ruling party deputies inside the Venezuelan parliament, in Caracas on April 30, 2013.

Loud insults turned into to heavy pushing, punches, kicks and scuffling in the Venezuelan parliament Tuesday, the continuing fall-out of recent elections has infuriated half the country.

As political disagreements became physical, seven opposition legislators were reportedly injured as the result of the heated session.

"They can beat us, jail us, kill us, but we will not sell out our principles," Julio Borges, an opposition parliamentarian, told a local TV station while visibly enraged with blood dripping down his face. "These blows give us more strength."

The opposition claims its representatives were physically attacked while protesting against being blocked from speaking in the National Assembly.

But the socialist government in power, with President Nicolas Maduro having grabbed leadership after Hugo Chavez death, accused the “fascist” opposition legislators of having started the brawl.

The 50-year-old Maduro, who was Chavez's chosen successor, defeated opposition candidate Henrique Capriles by 1.5 percentage points. Capriles, 40, has refused to recognize the victory, alleging that thousands of irregularities were committed and the vote "stolen."

The fracas came after the government-controlled assembly passed a measure denying opposition members the right to speak in the chamber until they recognized Maduro as president.

"Until they recognize the authorities, the institutions of the Republic, the sovereign will of our people, the opposition deputies will have to go and speak (to the private media) but not here in this National Assembly," said Diosdado Cabello, the head of parliament.

Since the election, at least eight people have died in street protests and dozens have been arrested. Maduro has publicly stated that he believes the opposition is planning a coup.

Reuters contributed to this report

Enrique Castro-Mendivil / Reuters

Nicolas Maduro gestures after a meeting with presidents of the Unasur regional group at the government palace in Lima, Peru, on Friday. He is due to be sworn in as Venezuela's president later.

CARACAS, Venezuela -- Nicolas Maduro will be sworn in as Venezuela's president on Friday at a ceremony attended by several Latin American leaders, after a decision to widen an electronic audit of the vote took some of the heat out of a dispute over his election.

Maduro, a former bus driver-turned-foreign minister who became the late Hugo Chavez's chosen successor, narrowly beat opposition challenger Henrique Capriles in Sunday's vote.

He accused Capriles of triggering post-election violence that killed eight people, though the opposition says Maduro allies staged some incidents to distract from the vote dispute.

Slideshow: Hugo Chavez through the years

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The life of Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez from his rise as a lieutenant colonel after his failed coup attempt in 1992.

Launch slideshow

"We have stopped a coup in its first stage. They are beaten, but they are coming back with a new attack," Maduro said on Thursday before flying to Peru for a last-minute meeting of South American leaders to discuss the situation.

While he was in Lima, Venezuela's electoral authority said it would widen to 100 percent an audit of electronic votes from a previous audit that reviewed 54 percent.

"We do this in order to preserve a climate of harmony ... and isolate violent sectors that are seeking to injure democracy," Tibisay Lucena, president of the National Electoral Council (CNE), said in a televised speech to the nation.

Maduro, 50, received a show of support at the late-night meeting of a group of South American nations called Unasur, which welcomed the CNE's move, congratulated him on his victory and called on both sides to reject violence.

Capriles, who insists the opposition's figures show he won, said he accepted the CNE's decision although it fell short of the manual recount he had wanted. He said he was sure the truth would come out.

The date for the start of the wider audit is to be announced by next week.

Heads of state who will join Maduro's swearing-in include Brazil's Dilma Rousseff and Iran's Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, along with leaders of Chavez-era allies such as Bolivia, Uruguay and Nicaragua.

Russia and China, both partners in major oil projects in Venezuela's vast Orinoco belt region, sent delegations headed by senior officials.

The inauguration ceremony is due to be held at the National Assembly and will be followed by a military parade. Jets making practice runs have often soared over the capital this week.

Argentine President Cristina Fernandez said on Twitter that on Saturday morning she planned to visit the military museum in Caracas where her friend Chavez is buried.

"I want to be there a bit more alone, without so many people, without so much noise," she said. "To Caracas, without Hugo. It's going to be difficult and strange at the same time. His funerals were so impressive it was like I was in a daze."

The unrest in Venezuela, just weeks after Chavez's death from cancer, has exposed the deep polarization of a country split down the middle between pro- and anti-government factions.

Maduro's administration accuses "fascist" Capriles supporters of going on the rampage, shooting people, attacking offices belonging to the ruling Socialist Party, and setting fire to government-run clinics staffed by Cuban doctors.

Capriles, who has repeatedly called on his supporters to behave peacefully, has said the government was to blame for any violence because of its refusal to hold a recount.

"We have identified where the problems are. With this, we're where we want to be," he said of the vote audit. He also demanded the government stop "persecuting" his supporters, and said there was no evidence of attacks on the state-run clinic, known as CDIs.

"I asked for reports from all the country's municipalities about incidents at CDIs," he said on Twitter. "None were affected. Only sick minds would do something like this!"

Slideshow: Hugo Chavez: 1954 - 2013

Francisco Gomez / Spanish Royal / EPA

Supporters of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez mourn his death and gather for his funeral.

Launch slideshow

Related: 

• Coup claim as 7 die in Venezuela election protests
• Venezuela divided: Recount sought after razor-thin victory of Chavez successor
• Full Venezuela coverage from NBC News

Isaac Urrutia / Reuters

Supporters of opposition leader Henrique Capriles take part in a demonstration in Maracaibo on Tuesday to demand a recount of the votes in Sunday's election.

CARACAS, Venezuela – Seven people were killed in violent clashes at opposition protests over Venezuela's disputed presidential election, officials said on Tuesday.

President-elect Nicolas Maduro – the late Hugo Chavez’s hand-picked successor -- said on Tuesday that opposition leaders who called for protests were seeking a coup against his government.

Opposition leader Henrique Capriles has demanded a full recount of votes from Sunday's election after results showed a narrow victory for Maduro.

The election authority has ruled out a recount, raising fears of more violence in the South American nation, which has the world's largest oil reserves.

The deaths happened on Monday when hundreds of protesters took to the streets in various parts of the capital Caracas and other cities, blocking streets, burning tires and fighting with security forces in some cases. Officials also said 135 people were arrested in the post-election violence.

State media and officials said the fatalities included two people shot by opposition sympathizers while celebrating Maduro's victory in a middle-class area of Caracas.

One person died in an attack on a government-run clinic in a central state. Two, including a policeman, were killed in an Andean border state, officials said.

"We will defeat this violent fascism with democracy," said Foreign Minister Elias Jaua, describing incidents and showing video footage to a group of ambassadors. "Those who attempt to take with force what they could not acquire through elections are not democrats."

There was no immediate response from the opposition, and Capriles' camp reiterated demands for peaceful protests on Tuesday as thousands of his supporters marched to regional election offices around the country. The government held counter-demonstrations. 

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PhotoBlog: Venezuelan rivals rally after angry clashes

Major challenges face Venezuela's next leader - whoever he is

Venezuela divided: Recount sought after razor-thin victory of Chavez successor

Christian Veron / Reuters

Supporters of opposition leader Henrique Capriles face off against riot police as they demonstrate for a recount of the votes in Sunday's election, in Caracas, Venezuela, on April 15, 2013.

Leo Ramirez / AFP - Getty Images

Riot police with tear gas face off against opposition supporters in Caracas on April 15, 2013. Venezuela's acting president, Nicolas Maduro, was proclaimed the winner of the country's election on Monday, triggering protests as the opposition demanded a recount.

Both sides in Venezuela's political standoff will hold rival demonstrations on Tuesday after authorities rejected opposition demands for a presidential election recount and protesters clashed with police in Caracas.

Opposition leader Henrique Capriles says his team's figures show he won the election on Sunday and he wants a full audit of official results that narrowly gave victory to ruling party candidate Nicolas Maduro, the country's acting president.

The National Electoral Council has refused to hold a recount of the votes, and police fired tear gas and rubber bullets on Monday to disperse opposition supporters who protested in a wealthy district of Caracas. Read the full story.

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Major challenges face Venezuela's next leader - whoever he is

'I am the son of Chavez': Former bus driver rides high in Venezuela election

Slideshow: Venezuela mourns Hugo Chavez

Tomas Bravo / Reuters

Venezuelan presidential candidate Nicolas Maduro and his wife Cilia Flores celebrate after the official results gave him a victory in the balloting, in Caracas on Sunday.

News Analysis 

CARACAS, Venezuela -- The late President Hugo Chavez’s hand-picked successor, Nicolas Maduro, narrowly won Venezuela’s presidential election Sunday with just 50.7 percent of the vote, according to election board returns. 

The slim victory over opposition candidate Henrique Capriles, who won 49.1 percent of the vote, was a difference of just about 235,000 votes. 

Capriles has refused to accept the results, alleging incidences of fraud and voting intimidation at polling booths across the country. Instead of a concession speech, the popular 40-year-old governor demanded a recount. "We are talking about a small difference, a tiny difference," he said.  "We will not accept the results until all votes are counted, one by one." 

The Venezuelan government announced that Maduro would be formally proclaimed the winner by the election board at a ceremony and rally in Caracas on Monday afternoon -- despite Capriles' demands for a recount.

While Capriles has not called out for his supporters to take to the streets, a protracted election dispute would be difficult on the deeply divided country.

Whatever the final outcome, the next leader of Venezuela will inherit a country with the world's second largest oil reserves -- but also a nation plagued with problems including food shortages, inflation, corruption and crime. 

Carlos Garcia Rawlins / Reuters

Supporters of Venezuela's opposition presidential candidate Henrique Capriles react after the official results gave a victory to Nicolas Maduro, in Caracas on Sunday.

Empty shelves
"You have to walk all over town from supermarket to supermarket to find what you need," said Olivia Nunez, standing in front of empty shelves at the Magdalena supermarket in Caracas’ Chacao neighborhood. 

Sugar, rice, coffee, milk, cooking oil, chicken and even soap and toilet paper are hard to come by at grocery stores. 

Lifelong residents of the middle-class neighborhood say shortages were unheard of until Chavez took office 14 years ago. When supplies do arrive, neighbors call each other to share the news and rush to stand in lines that sometimes make checkout a two-hour process.

The reasons for the shortages are many. Government measures to enforce price controls have discouraged domestic production. So have government expropriations. Many farm owners hesitate to invest in crops, fearing the fate of neighbors whose land was seized under a Chavez program that grants parcels to low-income families. 

Erika Angulo/ NBC News

This sign tells shoppers in a Caracas grocery store on Sunday that they are restricted to just 4 kilograms of rice per customer.

Adding to the shortages, suppliers of foreign goods say, is the administration's decision to scale back the number of dollars importers can buy. They complain they can't access the necessary dollars to pay manufacturers abroad. 

‘I'm terrified’
Crime is rampant, with kidnappings, robberies and home invasions skyrocketing over the last decade. 

The U.S. State Department has warned travelers that crime in the country is "pervasive, both in the capital, Caracas, and the interior." Violent crimes, including murder, are also up.  Statistics gathered by the nongovernment group Venezuelan Violence Observatory show that for every 100,000 Caracas residents there are 122 murders per year. For comparison, the rate in New York City is 5.6 murders per 100,000 residents. 

Valeria Ardenko said she stopped going out after 8 p.m. after a nephew was mugged at gunpoint. "I used to love to go to the theater, but now I'm terrified," said the 71-year-old grandmother.  

Home invaders who never leave are another risk many Venezuelans face. In some instances, squatters move in while residents are away on vacation. Some 100 activists earlier this month seized dozens of condos and empty lots in Caracas. Police managed to turn back about 16 occupiers, but others remained. 

"We have a government that allows those who have been living in a hut to take over your home because they feel like it. And no one does anything to stop them," said homeowner Aide Solotucha. 

Chavez promoted a process of expropriation of lands and homes deemed unoccupied as a way to deal with the country's home shortage while his administration built public housing.

Still united by oil
Caracas-Washington relations soured during the Chavez regime, with the Venezuelan president frequently accusing the U.S. of interference, even alleging an assassination plot against him. Chavez simultaneously strengthened relations with Iran and Russia, ignoring the concerns of U.S. officials.  And both countries have expelled each other's diplomats.  

But there is still one tie that unites them: oil. 

"The oil trade relationship between Venezuela and the United States has been the source of stability between the two countries during what has been, without question, really rough political and diplomatic times," said Sarah Ladislaw of the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington. 

Most energy expert say getting along with whoever ends up being sworn in as this OPEC country's leader will be to the advantage of the U.S. 

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Venezuela divided: Recount demanded after razor thin victory by Chavez successor

Dramatic exit: Heads of state gather for Chavez's funeral

Chavez's last words: 'Please don't let me die,' general says

Full Venezuela coverage from NBC News

Venezuela awoke to political turmoil Monday after Hugo Chavez's chosen successor, Nicolas Maduro, won the country’s presidential election by such a tight margin that his rival demanded a recount.

The country, already shaken by the death from cancer of its dominating leader, faces uncertainty after Maduro secured 50.7 percent of the votes in Sunday's election, compared with 49.1 percent for Henrique Capriles -- a difference of just 235,000 ballots.

"This is the most delicate moment in the history of 'Chavismo' since 2002," Javier Corrales, a U.S. political scientist and Venezuela expert at Amherst College in Massachusetts, told Reuters, referring to a brief coup against Chavez 11 years ago.

"With these results, the opposition might not concede easily, and Maduro will have a hard time demonstrating to the top leadership of Chavismo that he is a formidable leader."

Capriles refused to recognize the result and said his team had a list of more than 3,000 polling irregularities, Reuters reported.

"This struggle has not ended,” he said. "We are not going to recognize a result until each vote of Venezuelans is counted.”

"I didn't fight against a candidate today, but against the whole abuse of power," said Capriles, the 40-year-old governor of Miranda state. "Mr. Maduro, you were the loser. ... This system is collapsing, it's like a castle of sand -- touch it and it falls."

Officials said Maduro would be formally proclaimed winner at a ceremony and rally in downtown Caracas as early as Monday afternoon, Reuters reported.

For his part, Maduro said he would accept a full recount, even as he insisted his victory was clean and dedicated it to Chavez. 

"We've had a fair, legal and constitutional triumph," Maduro told his victory rally. "To those who didn't vote for us, I call for unity." 

One key Chavista leader expressed dismay over the outcome, The Associated Press reported. National Assembly President Diosdado Cabello, whom many consider Maduro's main rival within their movement, tweeted: "The results oblige us to make a profound self-criticism."

A modest but noisy crowd of Maduro supporters celebrated in Caracas’ Chacao neighborhood, waving flags and setting off fireworks.

A perception that Maduro has a weak mandate could prompt challenges from within the disparate ruling coalition that formed around Chavez, just as overstretched state finances force him to slow the very oil-funded largesse he staked his reputation on maintaining, Reuters said.

The OPEC nation's strong growth is seen by most private economists as dropping this year as the government pares back following hefty spending in 2012 that was a key driver of the economy and helped Chavez win re-election in October, Reuters reported.

However, the New York Times reported that Maduro’s victory could see repairs made to the fractured relationship between Venezuela and the United States.

Bill Richardson, the former governor of New Mexico, who was in Caracas as a representative of the Organization of American States, said in an interview that Maduro called him aside after a meeting of election observers on Saturday and asked him to carry a message, the NYT reported.

“He said, ‘We want to improve the relationship with the U.S., regularize the relationship,’” the newspaper quoted Richardson as saying.

Venezuela's electronic voting system is digital but generates a paper receipt for each vote, making a vote-by-vote recount possible, the AP said. 

Reuters and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Related:

Dramatic exit: Heads of state gather for Chavez's funeral

Chavez's last words: 'Please don't let me die,' general says

Full Venezuela coverage from NBC News

This story was originally published on Mon Apr 15, 2013 12:01 AM EDT

Leo Ramirez / AFP - Getty Images

People line up to cast their vote at a polling station in Petare shantytown, Caracas, on April 14, 2013. Venezuelans headed to the polls on April 14.

CARACAS, Venezuela — Voters who kept Hugo Chavez in office for 14 years were deciding Sunday whether to elect the devoted lieutenant he chose to carry on the revolution that endeared him to the poor but that many Venezuelans believe is ruining the nation.

Across Caracas, trucks blaring bugle calls awoke Venezuelans long before dawn in the ruling socialists' traditional election day get-out-the-vote tactic. This time, they also boomed Chavez's voice singing the national anthem.

Nicolas Maduro was riding on Chavez's endorsement with a campaign largely silent on the issues but freighted with personal attacks that was otherwise little more than an unflagging tribute to the polarizing leader who died of cancer March 5.

Chavez's longtime Chavez foreign minister pinned his hopes on the immense loyalty for his boss among millions of poor beneficiaries of a socialist government's largesse and the heft of a state apparatus that Chavez skillfully consolidated.

The governing United Socialist Party of Venezuela deployed a well-worn get-out-the-vote machine spearheaded by loyal state employees. It also enjoyed a pervasive state media apparatus as part of a near monopoly on institutional power.

Challenger Henrique Capriles' aides accused Chavista loyalists in the judiciary of putting them at glaring disadvantage by impoverishing the campaign and opposition broadcast media by targeting them with unwarranted fines and prosecutions.

Capriles' main campaign weapon was simply to point out "the incompetence of the state," as he put it to reporters Saturday night.

Maduro, 50, was still favored, but his early big lead in opinion polls halved over the past two weeks in a country struggling with the legacy of Chavez's management of the world's largest oil reserves. Millions of Venezuelans were lifted out of poverty under Chavez, but many also believe that his confederates not only squandered but also plundered much of the $1 trillion in oil revenues during his time in office.

People are fed up with chronic power outages, crumbling infrastructure, unfinished public works projects, double-digit inflation, food and medicine shortages and rampant crime that has given Venezuela among the world's highest homicide and kidnapping rates.

"We can't continue to believe in messiahs," said Jose Romero, a 48-year-old industrial engineer who voted for Capriles in the central city of Valencia. "This country has learned a lot and today we know that one person can't fix everything."

In Caracas, 59-year-old street vendor Jose Alzualde said he believed, however, that "Chavez's legacy should continue." He said Venezuela "needs a united country in order to advance. There are political divisions that should end."

Capriles is a 40-year-old state governor who lost to Chavez in October's presidential election by a nearly 11-point margin, the best showing ever by a challenger to the longtime president.

He showed Maduro none of the respect he had accorded Chavez. Maduro hit back hard, at one point calling Capriles' backers "heirs of Hitler." It was an odd accusation considering that Capriles is the grandson of Holocaust survivors from Poland.

"Capriles ran a remarkable campaign that shows he has creativity, tenacity and disposition to play political hardball," said David Smilde, an analyst with the Washington Office on Latin America think tank.

At his campaign rallies, Capriles would read out a list of unfinished road, bridge and rail projects. Then he asked people what goods were scarce on store shelves. The opposition contends Chavez looted the treasury last year to buy re-election with government largesse. It also complains about the steady flow of cut-rate oil to Cuba, which Capriles says will end if he is elected.

Venezuela's $30 billion fiscal deficit accounts for about 10 percent of gross domestic product.

Maduro, a former union activist and bus driver with close ties to Cuba's leaders, constantly alleged that Capriles was conspiring with U.S. putschists to destabilize Venezuela and even suggested Washington had infected Chavez with the cancer that killed him.

He focused his campaign message on his mentor: "I am Chavez. We are all Chavez" and promised to expand anti-poverty programs.

Michael Shifter of the Inter-American Dialogue think tank said Maduro campaigned "ineptly," trying too hard to "replay the Chavez script" and alienating moderate Chavistas.

Whoever wins Sunday will face no end of hard choices.

Many factories operate at half capacity because strict currency controls make it hard for them to pay for imported parts and materials. Business leaders say some companies are on verging on bankruptcy because they are unable to extend lines of credit with foreign suppliers.

Chavez imposed currency controls a decade ago trying to stem capital flight as his government expropriated large land parcels and dozens of businesses. Now, dollars sell on the black market at three times the official exchange rate and Maduro has had to devalue Venezuela's currency, the bolivar, twice this year.

Meanwhile, consumers grumble that stores are short of milk, butter, corn flour and other staples. The government blames hoarding, while the opposition points at the price controls imposed by Chavez in an attempt to bring down double-digit inflation.

A 40-year-old lawyer who sometimes works with the government said as he walked with his wife and two small children to the polls in central Caracas that he was fed up and voting for Capriles.

"But I can't say that openly because I could lose work," said the man, who would only give his first name, Marcelino.

"But we can't have fear," his wife, Lisette Ruiz, told him. "If Maduro wins everything is going to get worse."

Capriles said he will reverse land expropriations, which he says have ruined many farms and forced Venezuela to import food after previously being a net exporter of beef, rice, coffee and other foods. But even Capriles said currency and price controls cannot be immediately scrapped without triggering a disastrous run on the bolivar.

High international oil prices remain a boon for Venezuela, underpinning its economy. Chavez spent $500 billion to bolster social programs, trimming the poverty rate from 50 percent to about 30 percent.

But critics say the government has misused the oil industry, ordering the state oil company PDVSA into food distribution and financing of social programs while neglecting needed investment, causing production and refining to drop.

Venezuela's oil revenue is down from $5.6 billion five years ago to $3.8 billion in 2012, and PDVSA's debt climbed to $40 billion last year. The country even imports 100,000 barrels a day of gasoline from the United States.

Associated Press writers Fabiola Sanchez in Caracas and Vivian Sequera in Valencia, Venezuela contributed to this report.

Luis Acosta / AFP - Getty Images

Venezuela's acting president and presidential candidate Nicolas Maduro gestures during his closing campaign rally in Caracas on April 11, 2013 ahead of Sunday's presidential election.

Raul Arboleda / AFP - Getty Images

Opposition candidate Henrique Capriles attends a campaign rally in Barquisimeto, Lara state, on April 11, 2013.

The late Hugo Chavez's self-declared socialist revolution will be put to the test at a presidential election on Sunday that pits his chosen successor against a younger rival promising change in the nation he polarized.

Most opinion polls give his protege, acting President Nicolas Maduro, a strong lead over opposition challenger Henrique Capriles thanks to Chavez's endorsement and the surge of grief and sympathy over his death from cancer last month.

Ramon Espinosa / AP

Supporters hold a toddler wearing a Maduro-style mustache at the closing campaign rally for Nicolas Maduro in Caracas on April 11, 2013.

Raul Arboleda / AFP - Getty Images

Supporters of Henrique Capriles attend his closing rally in Barquisimeto on April 11, 2013.

Tomas Bravo / Reuters

Nicolas Maduro, left, watches former Argentine soccer star Diego Maradona kick a ball during Maduro's closing rally on April 11, 2013.

The candidates closed out official campaigning on Thursday with dueling rallies, both drawing hundreds of thousands of boisterous supporters. Taking a page out of Chavez's playbook, a fiery Maduro marched through the streets of the capital draped in a Venezuelan flag and called on voters to follow "commander Chavez as the spiritual guide of the fatherland."

"I am the son of Chavez," the burly 50-year-old former bus driver shouted to supporters in downtown Caracas. "I am ready to be your president."

Capriles, an energetic 40-year-old state governor, wrapped up his campaign in the nearby city of Barquisimeto. "Those who govern today have never done anything for your security. Sunday we're going to choose between life and death," he roared to the crowd. "If you want a future, you have to vote for change, for a different government." Read the full story.

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Maduro sworn in as Venezuela's acting president

Slideshow: Venezuela mourns Hugo Chavez

Leo Ramirez / AFP - Getty Images

Capriles pours water on his head during his final rally on April 11, 2013.

Enric Marti / AP

A soldier looks through binoculars at people gathered along Bolivar Avenue for the closing campaign rally for ruling party presidential candidate Nicolas Maduro in Caracas on April 11, 2013.