2024-07-28 20:24:25
Hours after the polls began, tensions rose, with the election chief attacking opposition candidate EG Urrutia and incumbent President Maduro vowing to “defend” the results.
Independent polls show Sunday’s election is the biggest challenge to the 25-year-old Chavismo, the populist movement founded by Maduro’s predecessor and mentor Hugo Chavez.
But analysts told AFP the president was unlikely to concede defeat.
Maduro, 61, is seeking a third six-year term in the once-oil-rich nation, which has seen its gross domestic product (GDP) shrink 80 percent in a decade and more than $7 million. from 30 million citizens were forced to emigrate. Accused of shutting down critics and persecuting the opposition, the atmosphere of authoritarianism is growing stronger.
The regime claims, based on its data, that it will defeat Gonzalez Urrutia, a 74-year-old former diplomat. N. Maduro relies on a loyal electoral apparatus, military leadership and state institutions with a well-established system of political patronage.
After casting his vote on Sunday, the incumbent president claimed he was the only Venezuelan politician who was being “persecuted” by “world powers”. And he promised to “ensure” that the results announced by the electoral body CNE (most of whose members are loyal to the regime) would be “defended”.
CNE head Elvis Amoroso, addressing reporters, called the opposition “enemies of Venezuela” and said its candidate “rejects the constitution.”
For his part, Gonzalez Urrutia said the opposition was “ready to defend” the vote and called on voters to be more active.
“We trust that our armed forces will respect the decision of our nation,” he added.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken urged all participants to “respect the democratic process”.
“The international community will be watching this very closely,” he told reporters in Japan.
The United States is desperate for stability to return to Venezuela, which is an ally of Cuba, Russia and China and has the world’s largest oil reserves but declining production capacity.
The South American country’s economic poverty is also a major reason for migration. Most Venezuelans live on just a few dollars a month, health care and education systems are in ruins, and electricity and fuel are in short supply.
The government blames sanctions, but observers point the finger at corruption and government inefficiency.
A Venezuelan non-governmental organization said on Friday that Caracas has “held 305 political prisoners” since January and arrested 135 people linked to the opposition campaign.
A few days before the election, the current president warned that if he loses, there will be a “massacre” in Venezuela.
The comments drew condemnation from a group of leaders, including Brazilian leader Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, who said: “Maduro needs to learn: ‘If you win, you stay.’ If you lose, you quit.”
Concerns have been fueled by Caracas’ last-minute blockade of several international monitors, including four former Latin American presidents whose plane was intercepted in Panama on Friday.
An invitation for observers from the European Union was rescinded a few weeks ago by the authorities, who allowed a small delegation from the US-based non-profit Carter Center to attend.
The word “change” is on the lips of many Venezuelans.
“We really hope for change, that we can move forward, that there will be a change of government and that people living abroad will be able to return,” Ali Diaz, a 30-year-old voter and a marketing specialist, told AFP in the capital.
About 21 million of Venezuelans are registered to vote, but only about 17 million. those still in the country have the right to vote.
The government has deployed tens of thousands of security forces, tightened border controls and banned public gatherings and protests.
2024-07-28 20:24:25