Venezuelan Opposition Coalition Member Assassinated

Attackers on a motorcycle shot dead a member of the Venezuelan opposition coalition who was a candidate in upcoming municipal elections, officials said Wednesday.

Jose Chirinos, 34, was killed Tuesday night as he was leaving a radio interview ahead of the December 8 vote, the Democratic Unity opposition group said.

Chirinos was a candidate for a city council seat in Baralt, Zulia state. The opposition coalition urged authorities to investigate his murder carefully and with transparency.

"Let is hope that his killing ... does not become part of the country's 98-percent impunity rate," the opposition group said in a Twitter posting.

Upcoming December 8 elections are seen by many as a barometer of support for the socialist, state-led government of President Nicolas Maduro, which is struggling with soaring inflation, slow growth and shortages of basic goods.

Opposition supporters are concerned about Maduro's recently gaining emergency powers.

Maduro says he needs the strengthened hand, which he won for a year, to counter inflation and shortages his government blames on "parasitic" conservative business interests.