Venezuela's youngest ever governor, who says he has never lost an election, is now the nation's leading opposition candidate and fast becoming the star of the country's first-ever primary election.

At 39, Enrique Capriles Rodonski, a former mayor and president of Congress, is seen by many Venezuelans as the man who can unite a highly politically polarised nation.

But to defeat Hugo Chavez, the incumbent Socialist president, Rodonski will have to overcome certain social obstacles.

His Justice First party is supported by the conservatives, but Rodonski labels himself a progressive who cares for the problems of the nation's majority poor population.

Al Jazeera's Lucia Newman reports Los Teques.