The burial of Hugo Chávez and the announcement of the April 14 election immediately set off a war of words between acting President Nicolás Maduro and rival candidate Henrique Capriles. Just hours after Chávez was laid to rest, Capriles accused Maduro using the late president’s death for political gain.

Henrique Capriles: “This is a completely spurious swearing in. Nobody elected Nicolás [Maduro] as president, and I will say it here, I knew the statement would be made. Nicolás, nobody elected you president. The people didn’t vote for you. The people will judge those who have used the death of the president for electoral ends.”

Capriles lost Venezuela’s last presidential race to Chávez in October, shortly before Chávez’s cancer returned. Responding to his challenger’s accusations, Maduro blasted Capriles’ wealthy background and vowed to continue Chávez’s democratic socialist agenda.

Nicolás Maduro: “I need the support of the people. I need the support of the revolutionary forces. I need the support of the noble people of this country. There’s no bourgeois here, nor a child of the bourgeois here, nor a man full of vanity nor of personal ambition. Here, there is a man of the people who joined Chávez and is here with him until the last breath of my life.”