Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez is convinced he will gain 70 percent of the vote at the October 7 presidential election, the country’s national news agency AVN reported.

At a press conference for foreign journalists in the Venezuelan capital Caracas on Tuesday, Chavez defended his viewpoint by citing statistics - 56 percent of votes cast for him at the 1998 election and 63 percent at the 2006 polls.

Chavez, 58, said private media do not publish the results of public opinion polls that he said show the population’s unquestioning support for him. Opinion polls indicate that Chavez’s closest rival, opposition candidate Henrique Capriles, 40, is more than 13 percentage points behind him.

“Do not ever doubt we will win,” said the socialist leader, who is bidding for a third term.