Image source, Getty Images
- Author, Norberto Paredes
- Role, BBC News Mundo
- Twitter,
- Reporting from Special Envoy to Caracas
After 21 days of massive demonstrations in support of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and the main opposition candidate, Edmundo González Urrutia, both sides closed their electoral campaigns with the largest rally of all in Caracas.
This Thursday, as the capital of Venezuela commemorated 457 years since its founding, both government supporters and opposition members gathered at various points in the city to attend the “takeover of Caracas.”
On July 28, Venezuelans will head to the polls in elections that have sparked expectations of real change in the opposition and in which Maduro seeks a third term.
Chavistas took over the city center and congregated late in the afternoon on the iconic Bolívar Avenue in Caracas, while opposition members gathered on the Main Avenue of Las Mercedes, in the affluent neighborhood of the same name, in the southeast of the capital.
“Again in the streets, from end to end!” celebrated Nicolás Maduro before his supporters.
“Think carefully, for your family, for your business, for your company, for your work, which of the 10 candidates guarantees the peace and stability of Venezuela?” the president added.
The main opposition candidate, Edmundo González, arrived in Las Mercedes around 6 PM on a flatbed truck surrounded by a caravan of motorcycles and cars following him.
Image source, Reuters
Image source, Reuters
He was accompanied by Maria Corina Machado, a leader who has played a decisive role in the opposition’s campaign.
Both addressed an enthusiastic crowd hopeful for change, who welcomed them with flowers and cries of: “It shows, it feels, Edmundo president!” and “Freedom!”.
“Thank you, Venezuela! In these three months, your enthusiasm has been my inspiration,” González tweeted at the end of the caravan.
“I thank my family, María Corina, the leaders of the Democratic Unity, parties, volunteers, witnesses, and polling station members. Every citizen, you are the key that will open the door to a better future.”
Image source, BBC Mundo
The candidate had stated earlier in a press conference with foreign journalists that he is convinced of his “victory” on Sunday.
“All the opinion polls we know give us a comfortable and wide victory, and even if they do some tricks until July 27, they won’t be able to close the gap, the difference between our candidacy and the official candidacy,” asserted the 74-year-old former diplomat.
“Chavismo will not lose the spaces it has conquered”
The government concentrated from early morning at different points in a paralyzed city: eight avenues had been closed since 6 PM on Wednesday due to the campaign closure events.
There were stages around the city where some danced to the rhythm of salsa, merengue, and reggaeton under the unforgiving Caracas sun.
Digna Toleda, a 61-year-old self-proclaimed “revolutionary” merchant, traveled nine hours by road from the city of San Félix, in Bolívar state, to attend the government rally.
Image source, BBC Mundo
“I believe we are going to win. I am sure that the people will take into account everything our president has done for us Venezuelans,” she told BBC Mundo from Bolívar Avenue in Caracas.
“He is the delegate that our eternal commander Hugo Chávez left to us and we trust him,” she continued.
Toleda added that if the opposition wins, they will continue “forward” and “in the fight for the revolution.”
A few meters away from her, Luis Yañez, who works for the Ministry of Ecosocialism, insists he has no doubt that Maduro will emerge victorious.
Image source, BBC Mundo
“Chavismo will not lose the spaces it has conquered. In France, socialism has just taken over Parliament (…) in Argentina, Javier Milei’s economy is expected to collapse, while the Venezuelan economy is going to grow this year. This country continues to grow even with sanctions,” points out the 61-year-old man.
Yañez reiterates that he sees it as unlikely that the opposition will win.
“They wouldn’t last long because the Venezuelan people do not accept neoliberalism.”
“We don’t know how the government will react”
At the opposition rally across town, Enyerber Laguna, a 24-year-old audiovisual producer, tells BBC Mundo that his “only option” is named Edmundo González.
Image source, BBC Mundo
“There will be a massive and very favorable victory for the opposition, but we don’t know how the government will react to a defeat,” says the young man, who closely follows the opposition caravan.
Nicolás Maduro’s recent warnings about “a bloodbath” and the possibility of triggering a “civil war” in the event of an opposition victory have raised concerns both abroad and in Venezuela.
But Laguna believes in the peacefulness of the Venezuelan people and claims that what “the majority” want is a change that allows Venezuelans to improve their quality of life and have “a better future” in their country.
“If Maduro wins, Venezuela will become deserted, as there will be much more emigration,” he states.
Passionately holding a Venezuelan flag, Yaneisy Marín, a 34-year-old merchant from Caracas, believes that with “the power of God,” the opposition will win the elections and “the Venezuelans will be free again.”
Image source, BBC Mundo
“It would be a very harsh blow and it would be more of the same. I have faith that we will get out of this, out of Maduro’s regime,” she adds.
“Venezuela has so much to improve and this must be done with a new government. We need to improve the economy, education, health, security, everything.”
Their call, and that of the majority of opposition and chavista protesters with whom BBC Mundo spoke, is that “all Venezuelans must come out to vote massively.”
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