Hugo Chavez’s successor? Opposition leader Henrique Capriles to challenge Nicolas Maduro

Henrique Capriles, the opposition leader in Venezuela, will face off against Hugo Chavez’s hand-picked successor, interim President Nicolas Maduro.

Mr. Maduro was sworn in Friday as an interim president, after Mr. Chavez died of cancer.

Monday is the deadline for candidates to announce their intent to run for the nation’s highest office and to file paperwork, the Los Angeles Times reports.

Mr. Capriles, 40, has sought the office before. In October, he lost by 10 percentage points, L.A. Times says, but was re-elected to governor of Miranda two months later.

He is now accusing the government of “shameful” actions and unconstitutional strategies to keep him from a fair run at the presidency. The Supreme Court is allowing Mr. Maduro to campaign for president at the same time he holds the position on an interim basis — an illegal decision that actually “rig[s] the game,” Mr. Capriles accuses, in the L.A. Times report.

“I say to the people of Venezuela, I will fight for all of you,” Mr. Capriles said at a televised news conference in suburban Caracas, the L.A. Times quotes. “Nicolas, I will not leave the way open for you. I will fight for every vote, whatever the cost.”

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