(MENAFN- Gulf Times) A dissenting faction of Venezuela's Socialist Party is seeking to put forward its own candidates in this year's parliamentary election, deepening a rift with President Nicolas Maduro's unpopular administration.
Marea Socialista, or "Socialist Tide", a small group of leftist intellectuals, accuses Maduro's government of spawning corruption and bureaucracy and betraying the legacy of the late Hugo Chavez.
Officials have ignored or attacked these criticisms, Marea Socialista says, further alienating the fringe group ahead of the election, for which the government has not set a date.
"We don't identify with the current behaviour of the Socialist Party," said Nicmer Evans, a leader and spokesman for the group.
"We're aspiring to have parliamentary candidates present in all the country's districts," he said, adding Marea Socialista has applied to electoral authorities to become a political party.
Maduro, who lacks his late mentor's charisma, is struggling to keep his disparate coalition united in the face of a decaying economy.
Many Maduro foes want to end state control over production and foreign currency, which they blame for throwing the Opec country into a recession, causing shortages of basic goods and pressuring inflation toward triple digits.
The dissident socialists favour more oversight and transparency in currency control and increased "worker control" and private sector input in production.
Venezuela's poor, the bedrock of support for Chavez and his oil-fuelled social programmes, have been particularly hard-hit. Many spend hours in line for milk or medicines and struggle to make ends meet as the monthly minimum wage hits around $26 on the black market.
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