[Pak Daily Times] Venezuelans vote in municipal elections on Sunday that are the biggest political test yet for President Nicolas Maduro as he tries to halt an economic slide and preserve the radical socialist legacy of his late mentor Hugo Chavez.The outcome of the ballots to choose 337 mayors and 2,523 councillors will be seen as a sign of Maduro's strength, nine months after Chavez died from cancer and he narrowly beat opposition leader Henrique Capriles to win the presidency. The opposition portrays Maduro as a buffoonish autocrat with none of his predecessor's political savvy, and says his economic policies have been a disaster for the OPEC nation.
Maduro, a burly 51-year-old former bus driver, says his "treasonous" rivals are colluding with U.S. financiers to try to drive him from power, but that "Chavismo" is stronger than ever.