Venezuelans have voted in municipal elections that will serve as a test of the popularity of President Nicolás Maduro seven months after he came to power.
"All patriots must vote so we can give a victory to our commander [the late previous president Hugo Chávez] and guarantee peace and future for the fatherland," Maduro, 51, said on Twitter in exhortation to supporters.
In Caracas, shantytowns and elsewhere, pro-Maduro activists woke up supporters before dawn with bugle calls and trumpets in an election mobilisation tactic begun under Chávez.
"It's important to vote, though I don't think it will bring the changes I want," said graphic designer Antonella Gutierrez, 45, on her way to vote at a primary school in a pro-opposition upscale suburb of Caracas nestled under the Avila mountain.
"I want changes from the presidency down. This government is tearing the country into bits, destroying my Venezuela."
Unlike the presidential votes that Maduro won in April and Chávez last year, morning queues appeared thin at poll stations. A healthy turnout of 60% or more was forecast.
Though local issues such as roads, street lights and utility services were bound to affect individual mayoral races, both sides in the polarized Opec nation also see the overall results as a crucial show of their standing at national level.
The ruling Socialist party was likely to win a majority of municipalities thanks to its popularity in rural areas, where most of the mayorships are located, while the opposition wants to keep control of big cities such as Caracas and Maracaibo.
Since taking office, Maduro, a 51-year-old former bus driver, has maintained core support among "Chavistas" by keeping his popular welfare programmes and repeating his rhetoric and politics. But Venezuela's economic problems have worsened.
Inflation in Venezuela has hit 54%, scarcities of basic products from flour to milk have led to queues and anger around the country, power cuts are frequent, and the local bolivar currency has tanked against the dollar on the black market.
The economic problems had been weighing on Maduro's ratings, but his recent aggressive drive to inspect shops and businesses suspected of price-rigging – and arrests of several dozen retailers – has proved popular among core supporters. Results were expected to start coming in on Sunday evening.
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