A Venezuelan flag next to some flags of Venezuela’s state oil company PDVSA is pictured near the company’s headquarters, in Caracas, Venezuela
Maria Corina Machado, the leader of Venezuela’s opposition, and Edmundo Gonzalez, the candidate for her coalition, have been able to get huge crowds of people excited about their campaign to remove President Nicolas Maduro and end 25 years of ruling party control.
Industrial engineer and former lawmaker Maria Corina Machado reacts to the vote count, after Venezuelans voted in a primary to choose a unity opposition candidate to face Venezuela’s President Nicolas Maduro in his probable re-election bid in 2024, in Caracas, Venezuela
But it’s still not clear how Sunday’s election will turn out. Maduro, whose reelection in 2018 was called fake by the US and other countries, is sounding confident, but opposition leaders and political experts are warning of possible cheating.
Venezuela’s President Nicolas Maduro leaves Itamaraty Palace after a meeting with Brazil’s President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, in Brasilia, Brazil,
Gonzalez has a lot of support, even from people who used to support the ruling party. But the opposition and some observers aren’t sure if the vote will be fair, saying that actions by election officials and the arrest of some opposition campaign staff are meant to make things harder.
Gonzalez and Machado have told people to go to the polls early and hold “vigils” until the polls close. The people have said that they believe the military will respect the vote.
The military in Venezuela has long backed Maduro and his mentor, the late Hugo Chavez. The head of the defense ministry, General Vladimir Padrino, said that the military will accept the results of the election on Sunday.
Maduro has been in power since 2013 and is running for a third six-year term. He has said that the country’s voting system is the most open in the world and stated that a “bloodbath” would happen if he lost.
Maduro’s government has seen the economy fall apart, about a third of the people leave, and diplomatic relations get much worse. On top of that, the US, EU, and other countries have put sanctions on Venezuela, which have made the already struggling oil industry even worse.
Nelson Bolivar, an ice cream vendor aged 50, spoke to a lively crowd of people opposed to Gonzalez at his final gathering. “We want political and economic change so there are more jobs, which is what we need most,” he said.
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