CARACAS: Venezuelan opposition candidate Henrique Capriles described his election battle with President Hugo Chavez in biblical terms on Wednesday, saying he was David fighting against Goliath.
"We must defeat Goliath, and each one of you is David," the underdog challenger told a rally in San Felipe, a city in the western state of Yaracuy, ahead of the October 7 presidential election.
"I am David, but each one of you is David too," Capriles said, referring to the boy who felled the giant Philistine warrior with a slingshot and then became king of Israel.
Chavez, in power since 1999, has easily won the last three presidential elections, and the latest poll shows the leftist leader holding a 10-point lead over Capriles.
But the challenger, a 40-year-old former Miranda state governor, has narrowed the gap considerably after trailing by as much as 20 points four months ago.
Capriles accused the ruling party of abusing public funds for the election and launching a smear campaign to "sow fear, exert pressure and intimidate."
"They speak ill of us every day. Since they have nothing new to offer, the only thing they can do is hurl insults and intimidate," he said.
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