Caracas  - Venezuelan opposition leader Manuel Rosales has gone into hiding and will not turn himself in to the authorities on embezzlement charges, because he thinks he is being prosecuted for political reasons, his party said Tuesday.

Rosales planned to hold on to his position as mayor of the city of Maracaibo and would not leave the country, as he awaits guarantees of a fair trial, said Omar Barboza, a spokesman for Rosales' party Un Nuevo Tiempo (UNT).

"We have recommended to Manuel Rosales that he keeps himself safe, that he does not turn himself in to Justice officials, because at this time there are no guarantees that he will have a fair trial," Barboza said in a press conference.

Barboza and other UNT leaders said they backed Rosales' decision, after high officials in President Hugo Chavez's government said the former presidential candidate had fled the country.

Rosales is being prosecuted for embezzlement based on a statement of his assets, months after Chavez himself said he would personally head the effort to "put him in prison."

Rosales faced Chavez in the 2006 election in which the president was re-elected, and was elected mayor of Maracaibo in November.

Barbosa said the opposition leader would remain in hiding for as long as "there is no justice that guarantees him the exercise of all his rights."

Chavez has long been accused by critics of using a dictatorial style of government to maintain power, but the president has time and again subjected his leadership to the polls and voters have approved his proposals most of the time.

Barboza noted that Rosales' lawyers went to the court to defend their client but found the court closed "on presidential orders."

"There is no way to uphold the rights of Manuel Rosales here," he said. "The important thing is that Rosales is alive and is free." (dpa)