* Opposition leader demands justice for three shot
supporters
* President responds to criticism of day-to-day record
* With one week to go, election expected to be close
CARACAS, Sept 30 (Reuters) - Venezuelan opposition leader
Henrique Capriles demanded justice on Sunday for the shooting of
three of his activists, while President Hugo Chavez promised to
expand his socialist agenda if he wins next weekend's election.
With a week to go, Venezuela's presidential race looks close
and tensions are rising. On Saturday, gunmen killed three
pro-Capriles activists in Barinas state - the worst violence of
the campaign.
"Yesterday, sadly, violence took three lives, something that
should never have happened," Capriles told hundreds of thousands
of exuberant supporters at a rally in Caracas that appeared to
be the largest of his campaign.
"I want to tell their families, and those angels in heaven,
that we are going to defeat violence on the 7th of October."
Capriles' Primero Justicia (Justice First) party said the
assailants had fired from a van that witnesses identified as
belonging to a state agency, after Chavez supporters had blocked
an opposition motorcade.
The government did not admit fault in the shooting, but
promised an investigation into what it said was an isolated
incident in the South American nation of 29 million people.
Chavez said he regretted the deaths and called for calm,
while at the same time saying any confrontation would come from
the "bourgeois" opposition.
"It's not with violence that we face off. It's with votes,
ideas, peace, so let's not fall into provocations," Chavez said
during a rally in western Zulia province.
Venezuela is awash with arms, and voters cite violent crime
as their No. 1 concern. There have been gunshots and clashes at
previous opposition rallies, but no deaths.
TIGHT RACE
Capriles has hammered Chavez daily for his record on
day-to-day problems like crime, blackouts and shoddy
infrastructure a n d drew a frank response from the president.
"Efficiency, that is one of my promises for the next period.
We have to correct things," the 58-year-old Chavez said on
Sunday in his most direct comment on a theme the opposition
hopes could sway former "Chavistas" into their camp.
Chavez has acknowledged Venezuelans' frustration with
grassroots problems in his recent campaign speeches, but said
things would be far worse under Capriles, who he paints as a
heartless capitalist elitist.
Capriles, 40, is a state governor with a centrist view of a
Brazilian-style, pro-business government with strong welfare
policies. Both men have spent time in prison - Chavez for a
failed military coup in 1992 and Capriles for a fracas outside
the Cuban Embassy during a short putsch against Chavez in 2002.
With one week to go, polls are mixed, leading both sides to
claim they are heading for victory. Venezuelans are fearful of
violence if the result is close and disputed.
Of the six best-known pollsters in Venezuela, a majority put
Chavez ahead, but they also show Capriles creeping up in recent
weeks. Two polls put Capriles just ahead of Chavez.
Despite two bouts of cancer since mid-2011, Chavez has
declared himself completely cured and is trying to recapture his
old energy to win another six-year term.
He was campaigning in two states on Sunday.
MORE SOCIALISM
Western investors hope the more business-friendly Capriles
will win and end a nationalization drive and other radical
policies that have polarized Venezuela and made Chavez one of
the world's most controversial leaders.
"I will not aspire to be a Messiah," Capriles told the
rally, saying Chavez was more interested in a grandiose
self-image than in solving Venezuela's problems.
Chavez has directed a large part of the OPEC member's oil
revenues to social welfare projects popular with the nation's
poor. He also maintains a unique connection with the masses,
thanks to his folksy rhetoric and own humble roots.
On Sunday he promised to "deepen" socialism if he wins.
That would likely mean continued spending on his popular
welfare "missions," more investment from politically aligned
allies like China and Iran, new confrontations with Venezuela's
private sector and continued support for fellow leftists
governments in Latin America like Cuba and Nicaragua.
"The first thing we are going to do with our victory is
something like put a lockdown on what we have achieved, to
prevent any going backwards. That would be terrible," Chavez
said in an interview on state TV.
After election wins in the past, Chavez has launched
nationalization or constitutional reform drives.
Opposition leaders are angry at Chavez' use of state
resources in his campaign, but say the electronic-based voting
system should be hard to rig on election day, since they will
have their own observers at most voting booths.
Some Capriles supporters, who regard Chavez as a dictator,
believe he would refuse to accept defeat.
"Chavez will definitely put up a fight because he does not
want to lose power," said Vessla Rodriguez, 62, waving a huge
flag with Capriles' slogan "There is a way" at the march.
"Just look at Fidel Castro," she added, in reference to
Chavez's friend and mentor who led Cuba for decades.
