CARACAS, (Reuters) – One of Venezuela’s best-known opposition leaders, Leopoldo Lopez, pulled out of the presidential race yesterday and threw his support behind coalition frontrunner Henrique Capriles.
A centre-left state governor, Capriles is already the favourite to win the Feb. 12 opposition Democratic Unity coalition primary and will be further boosted by Lopez’s exit.
The opposition’s unity candidate will face President Hugo Chavez in an Oct. 7 presidential vote that may be one of the South American nation’s closest in decades, though the incumbent is seen having the upper hand thanks to liberal use of state funds to bolster his popularity and his campaign.
