Venezuela candidates close campaigns, opposition trusts military to back result

CARACAS (Reuters) -Venezuela opposition candidate Edmundo Gonzalez said on Thursday he trusts the country's military will ensure respect for the result of the presidential election this Sunday, as he and his rival, incumbent President Nicolas Maduro, held final rallies.

Gonzalez has attracted significant support, even from former supporters of the ruling socialist party.

But the opposition and some independent observers have questioned whether the vote will be fair, saying decisions by electoral authorities and the arrests of some opposition campaign staff are meant to create obstacles.

Maduro, who has been in power since 2013 and is seeking his third six-year term, has said the country has the world's most transparent electoral system.

"We are going to win ... and we trust that our armed forces will respect the will of our people," Gonzalez told journalists in Caracas on Thursday. "Millions of Venezuelans want change."

Later at his closing rally, Gonzalez, who with opposition leader Maria Corina Machado has urged voters to go to polling stations early and stay all day after casting their vote, said Venezuelans would be witness to change on Sunday.

Gonzalez, 74, a former diplomat, is known for his calm demeanor and his promises that change could bring home many migrants.

"I want liberty," 23-year-old pharmacy student Yuliany Suarez, who also works in a supermarket, said before Gonzalez's remarks.

"The result is kind of uncertain," said Suarez, who came with friends and was wearing a Gonzalez bandana. "I have faith in Edmundo but with this government, who knows."

Venezuela's military has long supported Maduro and his predecessor, the late Hugo Chavez. Defense Minister General Vladimir Padrino has said the armed forces will respect the outcome of the election.

Gonzalez inherited the opposition mantle from Machado, who won the opposition primary but was barred from holding public office.

Some in the opposition have expressed fears that Gonzalez could also face a ban or other restrictions, but he said he was confident of peaceful voting and a decisive victory on Sunday.

Attorney General Tarek Saab denied participating in political persecution or holding political prisoners and said in an interview with Reuters this week the election should be peaceful.

Maduro's government has presided over an economic collapse, the migration of about a third of the population, and a sharp deterioration in diplomatic relations, crowned by sanctions imposed by the United States, European Union and others which have crippled an already-struggling oil industry.

Domestic and international business "know that only with us are their investments guaranteed," Maduro said during a state television broadcast on Thursday.

"I don't owe anyone anything, I am a totally independent president of the people, free and sovereign," Maduro, 61, told his final rally in central Caracas, adding he will call a national dialogue on Monday.

"I don't have favors, nor businesses, so I am a free man."

The U.S. reimposed oil sanctions in April, accusing Maduro of reneging on deals reached with the opposition to ensure democratic elections. On Thursday the White House expressed concern about the threat of violence, warning Maduro the vote must be fair and free of repression.

"It's good for us if he (Maduro) wins," said public servant Luisa Medina, 51, who was wearing a Maduro T-shirt.

Hundreds of buses lined Caracas' central Libertador Avenue after transporting Maduro supporters, sometimes from other states.

"It's the only government which has thought about us, the poor," Medina said before Maduro's closing rally, adding the president had continued Chavez's project.

Maduro warned last week of a "bloodbath" if he were to lose, comments that drew criticism from Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva. Brazil's electoral court and former Argentine President Alberto Fernandez both said on Wednesday they had withdrawn from acting as election observers.

Results of the vote could be published on Sunday evening or in the following days. Polls will be open between 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. local time on Sunday.

(Reporting by Deisy Buitrago, Mayela Armas, Vivian Sequera and Julia Symmes Cobb; Writing by Julia Symmes Cobb and Oliver Griffin; Editing by Christian Plumb and Rosalba O'Brien, Daniel Wallis and Michael Perry)