Tensions up in Venezuela after polls close

CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) — Voters chose Sunday between the hand-picked successor who campaigned to carry on Hugo Chavez's self-styled socialist revolution and an emboldened second-time challenger who warned that the late president's regime has Venezuela on the road to ruin. Tensions rose soon after polls closed as both sides hinted at victory and suggested the other was plotting fraud.

Jorge Rodriguez, the head of the campaign for acting President Nicolas Maduro, said he couldn't reveal the results before electoral authorities did but strongly suggested Maduro had won by smiling and summoning supporters to the presidential palace, where Chavez's supporters gathered to celebrate the late president's past victories. And he warned that Maduro's camp would not allow the will of the people to be subverted.

Opposition challenger Henrique Capriles and his campaign aides immediately lashed out at Rodriguez's comments.

Ramon Guillermo Aveledo, a Capriles campaign coordinator, suggested the government was trying to steal the election.

"They know perfectly well what happened and so do we," he said at a hastily called news conference. "They are misleading their people and are trying to mislead the people of this country."

Capriles also suggested fraud was in the works in a Twitter message: "We alert the country and the world of the intent to change the will of the people!"

In an earlier tweet, Capriles urged his supporters not to be "desperate and defeated."

Bill Richardson, the former New Mexico governor and longtime U.S. ambassador-at-large who came to witness the election, told The Associated Press that both candidates had assured him they would respect the outcome of the vote.

"I'm not here as an election observer, but I met with both candidates — Maduro, yesterday, and Capriles today. And I'm hopeful because both told me they would respect the rule of law and the will of the people," Richardson said.

Maduro, the 50-year-old longtime foreign minister to Chavez, pinned his hopes on the immense loyalty for his boss among millions of poor beneficiaries of government largesse and the powerful state apparatus that Chavez skillfully consolidated.

Maduro's campaign was mostly a near-religious homage to the man he called "the redeemer of the Americas," who succumbed to cancer March 5. He blamed Venezuela's myriad woes on vague plots by alleged saboteurs that the government never identified.

Capriles' main campaign weapon was to simply emphasize "the incompetence of the state," as he put it to reporters Saturday night.

Maduro's big lead in opinion polls was cut in half over the past two weeks in a country struggling with the legacy of Chavez's management of the world's largest oil reserves.

Millions of Venezuelans were lifted out of poverty under Chavez, but many also believe his government not only squandered, but plundered, much of the $1 trillion in oil revenues during his tenure.

Venezuelans are afflicted by chronic power outages, crumbling infrastructure, unfinished public works projects, double-digit inflation, food and medicine shortages, and rampant crime. Venezuela has one of the world's highest homicide and kidnapping rates.

"We can't continue to believe in messiahs," said Jose Romero, a 48-year-old industrial engineer who voted for Capriles in the central city of Valencia. "This country has learned a lot and today we know that one person can't fix everything."

Voting lines seemed considerably lighter than in the October election that Chavez won, when more than 80 percent of the electorate turned out, although government officials said it was due to the improved efficiency of the system.

After polls closed there were moments of tension at some voting centers.

At Andres Bello high school in central Caracas a band of about 100 Chavistas on motorcycles, many with faces covered with bandanas, harassed opposition activists who wanted to witness the vote count to ensure there was no fraud.

Some of the Chavistas tried to steal phones and cameras from people recording video of the event. The digital audio recorder of an Associated Press reporter was grabbed out of her hand.

Motorcycle-riding Chavistas have on several occasions during the campaign beaten Capriles supporters in the capital, though none apparently seriously enough to require hospitalization.

In the Chavista stronghold of Petare outside Caracas, the Maduro vote was strong. Maria Velasquez, 48, who works in a government soup kitchen that feeds 200 people, said she was voting for Chavez's man "because that is what my comandante ordered."

Reynaldo Ramos, a 60-year-old construction worker, said he "voted for Chavez" before correcting himself and saying he chose Maduro. But he could not seem to get his beloved leader out of his mind.

"We must always vote for Chavez because he always does what's best for the people and we're going to continue on this path," Ramos said. He said the government had helped him get work on the subway system and helps pay his grandchildren's school costs.

The governing United Socialist Party of Venezuela deployed a well-worn get-out-the-vote machine spearheaded by loyal state employees. It also enjoyed the backing of state media as part of its near-monopoly on institutional power.

Capriles' camp said Chavista loyalists in the judiciary put them at glaring disadvantage by slapping the campaign and broadcast media with fines and prosecutions that they called unwarranted.

Capriles is a 40-year-old state governor who lost to Chavez in October's presidential election by a nearly 11-point margin, the best showing ever by a challenger to the longtime president.

At his campaign rallies, Capriles would read out a list of unfinished road, bridge and rail projects. Then he asked people what goods were scarce on store shelves.

Capriles showed Maduro none of the respect he earlier accorded Chavez. Maduro hit back hard, at one point calling Capriles' backers "heirs of Hitler." It was an odd accusation considering that Capriles is the grandson of Holocaust survivors from Poland.

The opposition contended Chavez looted the treasury last year to buy his re-election with government handouts. It also complained about the steady flow of cut-rate oil to Cuba, which Capriles said would end if he won.

Venezuela's $30 billion fiscal deficit is equal to about 10 percent of the country's gross domestic product.

Maduro, a former union activist and bus driver with close ties to Cuba's leaders, constantly alleged that Capriles was conspiring with U.S. putschists to destabilize Venezuela and even suggested Washington had infected Chavez with the cancer that killed him.

He focused his campaign message on his mentor: "I am Chavez. We are all Chavez." And he promised to expand anti-poverty programs.

The victor of Sunday's balloting will face no end of hard choices.

Many factories operate at half capacity because strict currency controls make it hard for them to pay for imported parts and materials. Business leaders say some companies verge on bankruptcy because they cannot extend lines of credit with foreign suppliers.

Chavez imposed currency controls a decade ago trying to stem capital flight as his government expropriated large land parcels and dozens of businesses. Now, dollars sell on the black market at three times the official exchange rate and Maduro has had to devalue Venezuela's currency, the bolivar, twice this year.

Meanwhile, consumers grumble that stores are short of milk, butter, corn flour and other staples. The government blames hoarding, while the opposition points at the price controls imposed by Chavez in an attempt to bring down double-digit inflation.

A 37-year-old government employee leaving a polling station in central Caracas with her 4-month-old son and her sister said she was fed up with what she described as political intimidation at her office and was voting for Capriles.

"We have to keep quiet at work or else they fire you or make your life impossible," said the woman, who asked that she only be identified by her first name, Laurena.

She said she had been told to attend pro-government marches. "You go for a little so they see your face and then you leave. It's not fair that you have to stop doing your job to go to a march. "

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Associated Press writers Fabiola Sanchez, Jorge Rueda, E. Eduardo Castillo and Christopher Toothaker in Caracas and Vivian Sequera in Valencia contributed to this report.

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Alexandra Olson on Twitter: http://twitter.com/Alexolson99

Frank Bajak on Twitter: http://twitter.com/fbajak

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Cricket-New Zealand 250-1 v England, 3rd test - close

By Steve Keating ORLANDO, Florida (Reuters) - Rory McIlroy's decision to skip the Arnold Palmer Invitational surprised the tournament host, who expressed his disappointment on Wednesday that the world number one was not at Bay Hill this week. The 83-year-old Palmer said he had jokingly suggested he might break McIlroy's arm if he did not show up but did not try to force the young Northern Irishman into making an appearance. "Frankly, I thought he was going to play, and I was as surprised as a lot of people when he decided he was not going to play," said Palmer. ...

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Cricket-Cook aware of how close England came to embarrassment

DUNEDIN, New Zealand, March 10 (Reuters) - England captain Alastair Cook was acutely aware that his side had narrowly avoided an embarrassing first test loss to New Zealand in Dunedin on Sunday and that the series may be more competitive than they first thought.

Brendon McCullum's side, routed in South Africa late last year in a test series that witnessed them capitulate for 45 runs in one innings, were six places below Cook's second ranked team heading into the test last Wednesday.

After losing the first day to rain, New Zealand's bowlers ran through the vaunted England batting lineup, who appeared cavalier in their approach, to dismiss them for a paltry 167 in a first innings which was boosted by a 47-run ninth wicket partnership between Steven Finn and James Anderson.

"They put some pressure on us, but if you look at the shots it was pretty poor shot selection, or probably more poor shot execution, you can pretty much describe it as soft dismissals," Cook said. "If you do that against any team you pay the price."

New Zealand's new opening pair of debutant Hamish Rutherford and the recalled Peter Fulton, a pair that had been expected to be targeted by Finn and Anderson, then took the match away from the visitors when they put on 158 for the first wicket.

Rutherford went on to score 171 and the speed in which he paced his innings enabled McCullum to make a declaration at 460 for nine, a lead of 293 runs and with almost two days to try and bowl the visitors out to achieve a massive upset.

"When you get bowled out for 160-odd in the first innings on a good wicket you are always going to be struggling in the game and facing an uphill battle just to save the game," Cook said.

"We certainly felt after day (two), they were 130 for none, we thought it was pretty much damage limitation from there on.

"You are never really going to win a game from that situation."

A benign pitch and a far more stoic attitude from England in their second innings helped the tourists.

Cook scored 116 and shared in a 231-run stand with Nick Compton, before Finn scored 56 and occupied the crease for nearly five hours as nightwatchman to ensure the visitors go into the second test in Wellington on even terms.

Of concern for Cook as they head to the Basin Reserve for the start of play on Thursday, however, was the poor form shown so far of world class batsmen Kevin Pietersen, who is also nursing a sore knee.

He only made 22 runs in the warmup game in Queenstown before the first test and was then trapped lbw by Neil Wagner for a golden duck in the first innings and wafted well away from his body in the second to nick behind to be out for 12.

Both dismissals indicated he was still rusty after some time off following the test series in India late last year.

One of the positives for Cook, though, was the way in which his batsmen did respond in the second innings, albeit on a pitch that was giving the bowlers no assistance, while Compton's maiden test hundred was particularly pleasing.

"It's great that he's gone on to get a hundred and I think we'll see him take a big step forward because a hundred as an opening batsman for England will give you a huge amount of confidence," Cook said of Compton's innings.

"His determination, his will to score runs for England or whatever team he's played for, I think that's what's driven him on so far in his career.

"What I do hope - it'll give him the confidence, like I know any hundred does for a batter ... knowing that you can perform at this level." (Editing by Patrick Johnston)

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Cook aware of how close England came to embarrassment

DUNEDIN, New Zealand (Reuters) - England captain Alastair Cook was acutely aware that his side had narrowly avoided an embarrassing first test loss to New Zealand in Dunedin on Sunday and that the series may be more competitive than they first thought.

Brendon McCullum's side, routed in South Africa late last year in a test series that witnessed them capitulate for 45 runs in one innings, were six places below Cook's second ranked team heading into the test last Wednesday.

After losing the first day to rain, New Zealand's bowlers ran through the vaunted England batting lineup, who appeared cavalier in their approach, to dismiss them for a paltry 167 in a first innings which was boosted by a 47-run ninth wicket partnership between Steven Finn and James Anderson.

"They put some pressure on us, but if you look at the shots it was pretty poor shot selection, or probably more poor shot execution, you can pretty much describe it as soft dismissals," Cook said. "If you do that against any team you pay the price."

New Zealand's new opening pair of debutant Hamish Rutherford and the recalled Peter Fulton, a pair that had been expected to be targeted by Finn and Anderson, then took the match away from the visitors when they put on 158 for the first wicket.

Rutherford went on to score 171 and the speed in which he paced his innings enabled McCullum to make a declaration at 460 for nine, a lead of 293 runs and with almost two days to try and bowl the visitors out to achieve a massive upset.

"When you get bowled out for 160-odd in the first innings on a good wicket you are always going to be struggling in the game and facing an uphill battle just to save the game," Cook said.

"We certainly felt after day (two), they were 130 for none, we thought it was pretty much damage limitation from there on.

"You are never really going to win a game from that situation."

A benign pitch and a far more stoic attitude from England in their second innings helped the tourists.

Cook scored 116 and shared in a 231-run stand with Nick Compton, before Finn scored 56 and occupied the crease for nearly five hours as nightwatchman to ensure the visitors go into the second test in Wellington on even terms.

Of concern for Cook as they head to the Basin Reserve for the start of play on Thursday, however, was the poor form shown so far of world class batsmen Kevin Pietersen, who is also nursing a sore knee.

He only made 22 runs in the warmup game in Queenstown before the first test and was then trapped lbw by Neil Wagner for a golden duck in the first innings and wafted well away from his body in the second to nick behind to be out for 12.

Both dismissals indicated he was still rusty after some time off following the test series in India late last year.

One of the positives for Cook, though, was the way in which his batsmen did respond in the second innings, albeit on a pitch that was giving the bowlers no assistance, while Compton's maiden test hundred was particularly pleasing.

"It's great that he's gone on to get a hundred and I think we'll see him take a big step forward because a hundred as an opening batsman for England will give you a huge amount of confidence," Cook said of Compton's innings.

"His determination, his will to score runs for England or whatever team he's played for, I think that's what's driven him on so far in his career.

"What I do hope - it'll give him the confidence, like I know any hundred does for a batter ... knowing that you can perform at this level."

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Kenya: Candidate wants tallying halt in close race

NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) — Kenya's presidential race tightened late Thursday as new results pushed the leading candidate below the crucial 50 percent mark needed to win outright. A final result was expected Friday, but the close race and a troubled vote count are sparking fears of the kind of violence that ripped through the country after its last national election.

Tensions rose as the political coalition led by Kenya's prime minister, currently running in second, alleged that some vote results have been doctored and called for a stop to a tallying process it said "lacked integrity."

The statement by Raila Odinga's coalition said the counting process should be restarted using primary documents from polling stations, but the election commission insisted there was no way to doctor the results.

Deputy Prime Minister Uhuru Kenyatta had a small lead over Odinga as of late Thursday, though crucially Kenyatta for the first time slipped below the 50 percent threshold that would give him a clean win.

Kenyatta and his running mate William Ruto face charges at the International Criminal Court for their alleged involvement directing postelection violence five years ago. The court announced Thursday that the start of Kenyatta's trial would be delayed from April until July.

Kenya's national vote on Monday was the first since the 2007 election sparked tribe-one-tribe attacks that killed more than 1,000 people. Minor protests have cropped up, but no massive rioting or ethnic violence has occurred. As more time passes without a final result, though, tensions are rising, sparking fears that the dam now holding back potential protests could break.

Though Odinga's party said it continues to urge "calm, tolerance and peace," its call for a halt to the vote count and allegations of vote rigging could agitate its supporters. Vice President Kalonzo Musyoka, Odinga's running mate, said the announcement "is not a call to mass action."

Odinga's supporters in 2007 felt they had been cheated out of an election win over President Mwai Kibaki. Those supporters took to the streets, kicking off two months of clashes that, in addition to the ethnic violence, saw more than 400 deaths caused by police who were fighting protesters. A 2008 government report said the results were so tainted it was impossible to say who actually won.

The winner must capture 50 percent of the vote from the eight presidential candidates in order to win; otherwise there is a runoff.

Officials on Thursday continued to add up votes from tally sheets that have been transported to the capital, results that are being played across Kenyan TV screens. The partial results as of late Thursday in Kenya showed Kenyatta with about 3.5 million votes; Odinga had about 3.25 million. A little more than half of polling stations had been tabulated.

Musyoka told a news conference that "we have evidence that the results we are receiving have actually been doctored." He then listed several voting districts where he said the total votes cast exceed the number of registered voters. Musyoka also said that Kenyan law requires that vote results be transmitted electronically from polling stations before transporting the results.

The election commission chairman, Isaak Hassan, said later he has not seen any case where the total valid votes exceeds the number of registered voters.

Musyoka said Odinga's party was exploring several options to stop the vote count, including getting a court injunction. The electronic tally that was to serve as a preliminary vote count and be available soon after the polls closed failed on Tuesday, leaving the country in a tense information vacuum late Tuesday and Wednesday.

One issue that arose Thursday was why rejected ballots are no longer reflected in the count in high numbers. When the preliminary count froze on Tuesday there were more than 330,000 rejected ballots, an important issue because of a legal fight that will be launched over whether those ballots should be counted in the overall vote total, thus making it harder for a candidate to reach 50 percent of the votes cast.

Hassan said that the number of rejected ballots was incorrectly increased by a factor of eight because of a computer error.

On Thursday, by contrast, official vote tallies showed a very low number of rejected votes, leading to questions about where they all went. The election commission was to hold a news conference later Thursday but had yet to make any statements as of mid-day.

Kenya is the lynchpin of East Africa's economy and plays a vital security role in the fight against Somali militants. The U.S. Embassy in Kenya is the largest in Africa, indicating this country's importance to U.S. foreign policy.

The political battle between the families of Kenyatta and Odinga goes back to the 1960s and to the two candidates' fathers. Jomo Kenyatta was Kenya's first president after the end of British colonial rule. Jaramogi Oginga Odinga served as the country's first vice president then. The two later had a falling out.

If a runoff is declared for Odinga and Kenyatta, it would be most likely held in late April or early May, depending on how long legal challenges take.

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Associated Press reporter Rodney Muhumuza in Nairobi, Kenya contributed to this report.

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