Venezuela to hold elections on April 14

CARACAS - Venezuela's National Electoral Council (CNE) announced on Saturday after a special meeting of its Board of Directors that the presidential elections will be held on April 14.

CNE president Tibisay Lucena said the nomination of candidates will be realized on Sunday and Monday, while the electoral registration will be the same as the last elections on October 7, 2012.

The election campaign will run for 10 days, from April 2 until April 11. Each candidate will have 4 minutes to campaign on television and 5 minutes on radio.

"This election can guarantee the soundness of the electoral system and the whole process (...) and guarantees the sovereignty of the people through the vote," she said.

CNE made the decisions after the death of late President Hugo Chavez on Tuesday, after fighting cancer for two years.

According to the Venezuelan Constitution, a new and direct general election will be held within 30 days of the death of President Chavez.

Nicolas Maduro, who was officially sworn in on Friday as Venezuela's acting president, will be the candidate of the ruling United Socialist Party of Venezuela.

He will probably face opposition leader Henrique Capriles, who was defeated by Chavez in the presidential elections last October.