Chavez Has Slim Lead For Vote On Re-Election-Poll

The `Yes` camp is ahead 51.5 percent to 48.1 percent, according a poll conducted mid-month of 1,300 people.

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez holds a slim lead before a Feb. 15 referendum on whether to allow him to seek re-election, polling firm Datanalisis said on Wednesday.

The socialist, anti-U.S. president who has been in power a decade has consolidated his support this month and overtaken the opposition, according to the firm, which is one of the OPEC nation's most respected pollsters.

The "Yes" camp is ahead 51.5 percent to 48.1 percent, according a poll conducted mid-month of 1,300 people. Chavez's lead was slightly bigger than the survey's margin of error of 2.7 percentage points.

"This reflects a country divided into two, basically equal parts," the pollster's director Luis Vicente Leon said.

The close race means the referendum will hinge on which side can best motivate its supporters to go to the polls, he added.

Chavez narrowly lost a referendum in 2007 to allow him to run for office as long as he keeps winning elections. The Cuba ally says he is trying again because he needs more time to deepen his self-styled revolution.