Venezuela row on eve of presidential election

The Venezuelan opposition leader Henrique Capriles made an official complaint against the government following allegations that it broke the law by continuing its electoral campaign on state television.

On the eve of the election, acting President Nicolas Maduro appeared on TV visiting the tomb of Hugo Chavez as security was beefed up in advance of the crucial presidential election that would determine the country's next leader following the death of Chavez.

The opposition candidate Henrique Capriles said his opponent was "violating all the electoral norms".

Despite this, he said he had been "respecting the electoral rules, but those in power don't know anything other than the abuse of power".

Almost 19 million Venezuelans will have the right to vote on Sunday for a successor to Hugo Chavez.

Voting will be electronic - one machine will identify voters' fingerprints, and a second will recognise identity card numbers and register the vote anonymously.

Polls will open at 06:30 local time (10:30 GMT) and close 10 hours later, although they will stay open until all those queuing at closing time have voted.

The former president died on 5 March, after a two-year long battle against an undisclosed type of cancer, prompting a short electoral campaign period before Sunday's elections.

The winner is due to be sworn in on 19 April and serve until January 2019, to complete the six-year term that Chavez would have begun in January.

Soldiers and police took to the streets of the capital Caracas on the eve of Sunday's election, pitting Chavez's hand-picked successor Nicolas Maduro and his younger rival Henrique Capriles, governor of the state of Miranda, who is promising change in a polarised Venezuela.

In a meeting with foreign dignitaries, Maduro, the acting president, said he will recognise the election results, whatever they might be.

"If I win, it's welcomed and I will accept it with humility, if I lose, I will accept it with the same humility and with the values of Chavez," Maduro said.

"Peace is what we want, peace and respect to democracy and to values."

Chavez's handpicked candidate Nicolas Maduro is seen as the front-runner, but recent polls said the gap between him and his rival, Capriles, was narrowing.

Both sides staged massive rallies to mark the official end of their campaigns on Thursday.

But since 2002, Chavez' supporters have staged celebrations on 13 April, the date when the late leader returned to power after a brief coup in 2002.

Venezuelan state television showed Maduro visiting the tomb of the late leader, accompanied by the Argentine football star Diego Maradona, who also took part in Maduro's final rally on Thursday.

"Let's honour his [Chavez's] memory, his legacy," Maduro told Venezuelans in a speech at the tomb.

An interview with the acting president about the short-lived 2002 coup was also broadcast.

On Friday, members of the opposition campaign said they had lodged an official complaint with the Electoral Commission.

Capriles also complained on Twitter, saying VTV was "shamelessly breaking the electoral rules".

For his part, Nicolas Maduro said on the micro-blogging site that there was an alleged "dirty war" being plotted against him from Colombia's capital, Bogota.

This is Capriles' second presidential campaign in less than a year. In October 2012, he ran against Chavez and lost by over 10 percent. Chavez died on March 5 without being sworn into office, and another presidential election was called.

Nearly 19 million people are eligible to vote.

On Friday, Venezuelan Vice-President Jorge Arreaza said the government foiled a plot to destabilise Sunday's election.

Arreaza said that security forces had captured two Colombians posing as Venezuelan military officials who were allegedly planning to disrupt the vote, though he did not say how.