Venezuelan President Maduro set to run for re-election in 2018 vote

Venezuela's President Nicolas Maduro speaks during a rally to commemorate the 60th anniversary of the end of Venezuelan dictator Marcos Perez Jimenez's regime in Caracas, Venezuela January 23, 2018. REUTERS/Marco Bello/EKA

CARACAS (Reuters) - Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro looked sure to stand for re-election in a presidential vote due by the end of April where the ruling Socialists hope to trump a squabbling opposition despite an economic crisis and foreign sanctions.

The unpopular leader, whom foes decry as a dictator who has wrecked the OPEC member's economy, said he would run if the ruling Socialist Party asked him, even as Venezuelans reel from empty shelves and the world's fastest inflation.