Caracas, Apr 2 (EE).- Ruling-party presidential candidate Nicolas Maduro said Tuesday at the childhood home of late Venezuelan head of state Hugo Chavez that he felt that his deceased mentor appeared to him in the form of a "little bird" and blessed him. "I felt it here like it was giving us a blessing, telling us: 'Today the battle gets started. Go on to victory. Have our blessings.' That's what I felt in my soul," said Maduro on the patio of Chavez's birthplace in the western state of Barinas.

By Brian Ellsworth and Mario Naranjo SABANETA, Venezuela (Reuters) - Venezuelan acting President Nicolas Maduro made a pilgrimage to late socialist leader Hugo Chavez's birthplace on Tuesday and pledged to win the April 14 election in his honour. "We regard Chavez as our father. He marked our life, that's why we came here to make an oath in the land of his birth that we will never let him down," Maduro, 50, said in the village of Sabaneta where his former boss was born.

By Brian Ellsworth CARACAS (Reuters) - Weeks after his death, Venezuelan socialist leader Hugo Chavez still leads supporters in singing the national anthem. The late president's recorded voice booms over rallies for his protégé, acting President Nicolas Maduro, who stands under billboards of Chavez's face and waves to crowds carrying signs emblazoned with his name.

Venezuela's acting president Nicolas Maduro told AFP Sunday that his mentor Hugo Chavez had fought for his life "until the last second" and called for a probe into the leader's death. "Until the last second of his life he believed that he would live and he wanted to live," Maduro told AFP in an exclusive interview. A visibly emotional Maduro recalled how he had visited Chavez in the military hospital on March 5 intending to discuss matters of state with the ailing leader, who had not appeared in public since December.