People in Venezuela took to the polls yesterday in what seems to have become a tightening race for control of the country’s national legislature.

Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez has a double-digit lead over the opposition's presidential hopeful - but a quarter of voters have not committed to either candidate, according to a poll.

President Hugo Chavez's approval ratings remain in the 50% range, but a majority of Venezuelans disapprove of the government's performance on key issues such as crime, corruption and the economy, according to a poll.

US EVANGELIST Pat Robertson may have apologised, but his call for the US to assassinate Hugo Chavez is playing into the Venezuelan leader’s political hands, bolstering his claim that Washington wants to kill him, putting him in the international limelight and probably boosting his popularity at home.