Chavez, a staunch opponent of Washington, considers the ailing Cuban leader a mentor but has often said the socialism he seeks for Venezuela does not aim to copy Cuba's system. 

In his speech, Chavez suggested Rosales was a pawn of the US government and revisited an attack he used against President Bush during an address at the UN in September, when he called the US leader the devil.

"Let's not forget that we are facing the very devil. On Dec. 3, we face at the ballot box the imperialist government of the United States of America. That is our real adversary," Chavez said in his speech Sunday.

Peering through a pair of binoculars down a major avenue packed with supporters wearing the color of his party, Chavez said he admired what he called the "red tide."

"Our goal is not to win" the election, Chavez said amid the thunder of fireworks. "We must outdo our previous triumphs. ... We are going to win in a way that is overwhelming, crushing."

Sunday's rally was the largest in support of Chavez since campaigning began in August and appeared to number in the hundreds of thousands. There were no official estimate by police.

His rally came a day after hundreds of thousands of Rosales supporters flooded a major highway in one of the largest anti-Chavez demonstrations in years. Rosales, a state governor who favors a free-market economy, trailed Chavez by a wide margin in an AP-Ipsos poll earlier this month.

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