"The president himself said that revolution is not about a man and the people understood that. Those who fail to understand this are right-wing militants who despise the people. If Hugo dies, if that is God's decision, then the revolution will continue its path." But Miguel Oraa, an opposition leader in Barinas, predicted that the death of Mr Chavez would end the edifice of his rule. "There is no revolution without Chavez," he told this newspaper. "People say 'I am a Chavista, not a revolutionary'. Chavismo without Chavez does not exist, it falls apart. The empire collapses completely." Indeed, opinion polls last year indicated that Henrique Capriles, the opposition leader, would beat any Chavista candidate in fresh elections. But an election held in the wake of Mr Chavez's death could deliver a powerful and decisive sympathy vote for a Chavez heir.