Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez said on Monday that he had information about a plot to assassinate opposition rival Henrique Capriles, who hopes to block his bid for re-election in October.

"The head of intelligence met with a team of the Miranda governor, because there's some information out there that they want to kill him," Chavez said in a phone call to state TV.

In an already tense election campaign, where the opposition senses it has its best chance to end the socialist leader's 13-year grip on the South American nation, Chavez implied that the plot had come from within the opposition's own ranks.

"It's not the government, not at all, on the contrary," he said.

Chavez gave few details of the alleged plot, but said his government had offered protection to the 39-year-old opposition leader and governor of Miranda state, who is on a nationwide tour to drum up support for his presidential bid.

Stoking fears of violence during campaigning among a deeply polarized population, shots were fired during a visit by Capriles this month to a Caracas slum that is a Chavez stronghold. Both sides blamed each other at the time.

"As the state, we are obliged to get on top of this situation and give protection to any Venezuelan, especially in this context," said Chavez, who is due to start radiation therapy for cancer in coming days.