CARACAS Venezuela AP A former Miss Universe said Tuesday she will stay in the race to become Venezuela's next president despite losing the backing of one of the country's major political parties. Irene Saez 36 said she accepted Monday's decision by the center-right COPEI party to throw its support to former state governor Henrique Salas Romer but would compete in next Sunday's election as an independent. ``I respect the decision and I return the card that never belonged to me'' Saez said referring to COPEI's box on the electoral ballot. The move by COPEI was part of strategy to foil the presidential aspirations of retired Lt. Col. Hugo Chavez who led an abortive coup in 1992. COPEI said Saez's candidacy threatened to divide the anti-Chavez vote. Fearing that Chavez would impose a dictatorship if elected COPEI and Venezuela's other major party Democratic Action have closed ranks around Salas. Over the weekend Democratic Action also dropped its candidate 77-year-old party stalwart Luis Alfaro who is fighting the decision. Millions of Venezuela's poor see Chavez as a hero partly because of his tough talk on corruption and his promises to slow down free-market reforms. Chavez's Patriotic Pole coalition won a plurality of seats in Venezuela's Congress in Nov. 8 regional elections prompting his opponents to form a coalition of their own dubbed the ``Democratic Pole.'' Speaking to hundreds of supporters at her campaign headquarters Tuesday Saez said she laments the nation's increasing political polarization. ``We are all democratic and we are all patriotic. We are one people'' Saez said. She acknowledged she has little chance of winning but said she wants to give voters an alternative for democratic change. Saez a 6-foot-1 1.85-meter strawberry blonde who was Miss Universe 1981 had led the polls for months. As mayor of affluent Chacao municipality in Caracas she built a reputation as an honest and efficient politician. But sugary slogans confusion among her campaign team and her decision to accept COPEI's backing has seen her popularity plummet in recent polls. APW19981201.1074.txt.body.html APW19981201.0124.txt.body.html