Caracas, Jan 27 (EFE).- Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez said Friday that rumors about his plans to wed a soap-opera star were an attempt to tarnish his image ahead of the December presidential vote, when he plans to seek re-election. After denying any romantic relationship with Venezuelan actress Ruddy Rodriguez, Chavez postulated that the U.S. "empire" and its Venezuelan "lackeys" were behind what he called a disinformation campaign. Chavez, a self-styled "revolutionary" who is a staunch ally of Cuba's Fidel Castro, regularly criticizes the United States for having an "imperialist and interventionist" position toward Venezuela. "The campaign has already begun to...