Venezuelans vote in election

 Voters in Venezuela contest Maduro's hold on power in an election

   In what has been called the largest threat to the ruling socialist PSUV party since it came to power 25 years ago, Venezuelans will cast ballots today.

Nicolás Maduro, the man in charge since his mentor Hugo Chávez passed away in 2013 will seek reelection to the presidency a third time.
Edmundo González, a veteran diplomat with the support of several opposition parties, is his principal rival.

   According to polls, Mr. González leads the incumbent by a significant margin. However, because Mr. Maduro's 2018 reelection was widely regarded as neither free nor fair, there are concerns that, should the results of this election not align with his wishes, they may be manipulated.

   The knowledge that Mr. Maduro has assured his followers he would prevail "by hook or by crook" has added to their anxieties.

 
AFP said that Mr. Maduro pledged to "make sure" the results were honored after casting his ballot in the nation's capital on Sunday.

According to the Reuters news agency, voting began earlier than the scheduled time of 06:00 local time (10:00 GMT).

According to the outlet, there were conflicts and altercations between voters in line outside a Caracas polling location as they awaited the doors to open.

Only a small team of Carter Center technical experts and four United Nations observers are present in the nation to keep an eye on the poll.

An offer for observers from the European Union to attend was withdrawn by the head of the electoral administration, a close supporter of Mr. Maduro.

 
Alberto Fernández, the former president of Argentina, was also not invited after he suggested that the Maduro administration ought to prepare for a potential electoral defeat.
To "accompany" the vote, Mr. Maduro claims to have received hundreds of visitors from nations that support his administration.

Meanwhile, thousands of people have been organized by the opposition to serve as witnesses at certain polling places.

The opposition has been speaking up despite all of the obstacles it has encountered, which include ongoing intimidation and the imprisonment of over 100 persons connected to its campaign since the beginning of the year.

It makes the claim that President Maduro cannot "steal the election" because of the significant lead its candidate has in the polls.

 
The opposition has cited opinion surveys, but the administration has rejected them, claiming that their candidate is leading.

In the lead-up to the elections, Mr. Maduro has used harsh rhetoric, threatening a "bloodbath" if he loses.

Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, the leader of Brazil's left-wing party, chastised Mr. Maduro for his remarks, saying that he should learn "that if you win, you stay in power, but if you lose, you go".

Mr. Maduro has adopted a hostile tone and utilized the picture of a fighting cockerel as a symbol for his campaign.

"We have overcome a millennium of storms. At his farewell rally, he made reference to some of the obstacles he has overcome in his 11 years in office by saying, "They could not defeat us, nor will they ever be able to."

After winning reelection in 2018, despite widespread criticism that it was neither free or fair, he blocked opposition leader Juan Guaidó's attempt to remove him from office by claiming to be the legitimate president.

Although Mr. Maduro could rely on the allegiance of the Venezuelan security services, Mr. Guaidó had the support of over fifty nations, including the US and the EU.

Ultimately, Mr. Maduro used the Guaidó parallel administration to further his narrative of being the "defender of Venezuelan sovereignty," a subject he emphasized during his farewell speech.

We'll show imperialism and the fascists wrong on Sunday. 'Long live Venezuela, my darling motherland,' we shall cry," he declared.

Nevertheless, despite this combative rhetoric, many opponents of Maduro believe that this election represents their best chance to unseat him because it is the first in more than ten years for the opposition to unite behind a single candidate and not abstain from voting.

On their path to the elections, they have surmounted numerous obstacles, not the least of which being the ban on their preferred candidate, María Corina Machado, from seeking public office.

In record fast, supporters of a change in administration have coalesced behind her replacement, 74-year-old Edmundo González.

The opposition has promised, among other things, to turn Venezuela around if it wins, allowing the millions of people who have fled the political and economic disaster the country has been experiencing under the Maduro Administration to return.

The US and Latin American nations where a large number of Venezuelans have emigrated will be closely monitoring this election due to the country's 7.8 million emigrant population and surveys that indicate it may rise if Mr. Maduro wins.

  Cuba, China, Iran, and Russia—all major allies of the Maduro administration—will also be closely monitoring the election results because, should Mr. González win, Venezuela would almost certainly realign itself away from them and toward the United States.

At a protest attended by tens of thousands of people, Mr. González also declared that it was "time to re-establish democracy." This was a reference to the fact that, during its 25 years in power, the ruling PSUV party has taken control of the legislative branch, the executive branch, and, to a considerable extent, the judiciary.

 
The CNE, the organization that oversees elections and declares their results, is filled with supporters of the government, which worries the opposition the most.

 

The CNE is anticipated to release the results of the electronic voting that same evening, maybe as early as 20:00 local time (01:00 BST Monday).

The winner will take office and be sworn in on January 10, 2025.