Venezuela primary to set up Capriles-Chavez showdown

"I'm not an imperialist. Those are debates from 50 years ago when I wasn't even born," Miranda state governor Capriles recently told reporters, referring to Chavez's epithet for foes.

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"This is a debate between stagnation and progress."

Drawing derision from Chavez, the five candidates in the primary have crisscrossed Venezuela, from Andean foothills to Amazon jungle hamlets, attacking his record and promising to stay united behind whoever wins on Sunday.

TACKLING CHAVEZ

While most have avoided confrontation with Chavez and instead stressed concern over crime and jobs, the only female candidate, right-wing independent Maria Corina Machado, has added spice with a torrent of vitriol against the president.

Mocked as "that little bourgeois woman" by the president, she jumped to third in the polls after a highly-publicized exchange in Congress during a 9 1/2-hour Chavez speech where she likened his nationalizations to theft.

The vote for the Democratic Unity coalition's candidate will help turn the page on a decade of internecine disputes among the opposition. Efforts to push Chavez out by force through street protests, a bungled coup and a crippling oil strike all failed.

"The primaries have revealed a much more mature and better organized opposition," wrote Barclays Capital, one of numerous Wall Street outfits closely tracking the opposition vote for its impact on bond prices and the likelihood of government change.

Remaining united will be essential for the opposition if they are to mount a serious challenge.

If they win power, they would face a mammoth task reversing Chavez's "21st century revolution".