CARACAS,  (Reuters) – Venezuelan President Hugo  Chavez defended his socialist government’s security record yesterday, rejecting pre-election claims by the opposition that  crime had risen sharply during his 11 years in power.

Rampant murders, kidnappings and robberies are the top  concern of voters who are due to cast ballots in a Sept. 26  legislative poll that is being seen as an important test of his  support ahead of a presidential election in 2012.

The government has not published official murder statistics  in years, but opposition parties in South America’s biggest oil  exporter echo non-governmental organizations that say it is one  of the world’s most dangerous places outside war zones.

“It is not true Venezuela is one of the most insecure  countries in the world, nor is it true there is more violence  here than 11 years ago,” Chavez said in a televised speech.

Figures from the police’s forensic science unit show that  between 1998 and 2005, homicides increased by about 120 percent  to 9,944 murders per year. Non-governmental groups say that  figure rose to between 13,000 and 16,000 murders last year.

Chavez often accuses his political opponents of stoking  voters’ fears of crime through propaganda in an attempt to  tarnish the achievements of his socialist “revolution.”

He says the creation of a new police force and other  anti-crime measures have born fruit, and government officials  were angered by a New York Times article last week that said  the capital Caracas was more dangerous than Baghdad, Iraq.

“It is incredible … to say what the opposition keep  repeating every day, that Venezuela is more insecure than  Iraq,” a visibly annoyed Chavez said in the speech, broadcast  from the opening of a power plant in western Zulia state.

“What is true is that the issue of crime is a tough one,”  he added, without providing official figures to rebut the ones  from non-governmental groups that have made front-page news.

Analysts expect his ruling socialist party to retain a  majority at this month’s polls, but say the opposition is  forecast to win at least one-third of the seats in parliament.