◼ Opposition leader Henrique Capriles accused Venezuela's "incompetent" President Nicolas Maduro on Sunday of bankrupting the nation in an increasingly radical blame-game over the OPEC member's economic distortions. - Reuters
Referring to reports of dissent in the ruling Socialist Party, Capriles taunted Maduro: "Someone who doesn't even have the trust of his own militants is hardly going to have the trust of the nation he pretends to govern.
"Neither this invention of the economic war nor the political smokescreens they seek abroad to blame others for their disaster are working."
Pollsters say both Maduro and Capriles' approval ratings are down from their April vote levels of 50.6 and 49.1 respectively, and many Venezuelans are simply fed up with the political polarization they had hoped might diminish after Chavez.
Both men are rallying supporters ahead of December 8 regional elections that will be a test of Maduro's standing and Venezuelans' confidence in his ability to fix the economy....
In what promises to be a politically charged week, Maduro plans to go to parliament on Tuesday to seek extraordinary decree powers used by his predecessor several times.
