"They are afraid of international observers, they are afraid of an observation," Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado tells a cheering crowd on the outskirts of Caracas, referring to the Nicolas Maduro government's decision to disinvite the European Union to observe the July 28 presidential election. Machado, the favorite in the polls but disqualified from holding public office, is accompanied by her stand-in candidate, Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia, who is urging Venezuelans to attend the vote count as witnesses. IMAGES AND SOUNDBITES