Henrique Capriles, the opposition candidate in Venezuela’s upcoming election, has hit out at his main rival for labelling his supporters “heirs of Hitler”.

Acting president Nicolas Maduro, the man most likely to win the election and succeed Hugo Chavez, said: “The heirs of Hitler are leading a campaign in Venezuela against the Cuban people.”

Late Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez developed a close political and strategic relationship with Iran’s President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad based on a deep anti-Americanism, which led to an “Axis of Unity” against the US.

Henrique Capriles will stand as the opposition candidate in Venezuela’s snap presidential election following the death of Hugo Chavez, the firebrand socialist leader.

Mr Capriles, a state governor who has Jewish roots, announced he will face Mr Chavez’s handpicked heir, former vice-president Nicolas Maduro, on April 14.

The death of Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez could open the door to a second leadership bid by the grandson of Holocaust survivors.

The firebrand president, who died on Tuesday at the age of 58 after a long battle with cancer, defeated Henrique Capriles to win another election last year.

Iran has considered Venezuela one of its closest allies under radical President Hugo Chavez, but that could be about to change. Henrique Capriles, who will stand against Mr Chavez in presidential elections this Sunday, has said he will rethink relations with Mahmoud Ahmadinejad if he wins.

Six years after he lead a failed coup against the government of President Carlos Andres Perez, Venezuela chose the anti-globalist revolutionary and former paratrooper Hugo Chavez as its president.

Seen domestically as a champion of the poor, he swept into power on a populist platform vowing to overhaul the South American country’s corrupt politics. The wealthy, the church and much of the media have come under criticism in his 12 years in power.

Venezuela views its Jewish community as "foreign" rather than Venezuelan and wants to replicate Iran’s treatment of Jews, according to notes in a cable sent from the US embassy in Caracas and released by WikiLeaks.

The correspondence, sent following a meeting with members of the Confederation of Israelite Associations of Venezuela (CAIV), reveals that the community believes "the horizon is dark" for Jews in Venezuela and that antisemitism is "government-sponsored”.