The increasingly public tensions between moderates and radicals within the five-year-old Democratic Unity coalition play into the government's hands should Chavez fail to recover from the disease and a new presidential election be held.

"They're beating each other up. They have no respect for agreements, that's the opposition we have," gloated Congress head Diosdado Cabello, the third most powerful government figure after Chavez and Vice President Nicolas Maduro.

After years of in-fighting, election defeats and chaotic attempts to remove Chavez through street protests, an oil industry strike and even a brief coup, some 30 ideologically diverse political groups formed the opposition coalition in 2008.

It had an auspicious start, winning half the total vote in 2009 parliamentary elections. Then it stayed united - and kept egos in check - during a long primary race to elect state governor Henrique Capriles as its 2012 presidential candidate.

Even though Capriles' defeat by Chavez was crushing for many in the opposition ranks, he galvanized them like never before and they had their best showing 44 percent or 6.6 million votes at a presidential election during the Chavez years.

Yet troubles began almost the next day with murmurings from some wings of the opposition that the center-left Capriles had been too soft in his public discourse while too controlling in his exclusion of older parties from his campaign.

A thrashing by Chavez's ruling Socialist Party at regional elections held in December, where the coalition took just three of 23 governorships, accentuated the malaise.