Politician raffles breast implants

CARACAS (Reuters) - A Venezuelan politician is offering breast implants as a prize in a raffle to raise funds for his parliamentary election campaign.

"Some people raffle TVs and we decided to offer this. It's an interesting prize and there's a lot of interest," Gustavo Rojas, an opposition candidate for a National Assembly position, told Reuters while campaigning in Caracas.

Cosmetic surgery, especially breast enlargement, is widespread in image-conscious Venezuela, whose beauty queens have won numerous international pageant titles.

Even a recession has not diminished Venezuelans' appetite for cosmetic surgery, with many people taking out loans for operations.

Rojas, of the opposition First Justice party, said he was not too worried about potential feminist criticism or the medical details of his offer.

"The raffle is a financing mechanism, nothing else. It's the doctor who will do the operation, not me," he said.

"When someone raffles a TV, some people think it's a good TV but others don't like it. It's the same. I'm not showing disrespect to anyone."

Venezuelans vote on September 26 for a new parliament.