The latest: Venezuela chooses between another president term in the name of Maduro or a major change
Venezuelans are deciding whether to grant an additional six-year extension to the president Nicolas Maduro and extend the policies that caused the worst economic crisis, or to support his last-minute challenger the former diplomatic official Edmundo Gonz…
By The Associated Press
28 Jul 2024 at 04:54 4:54
Venezuelans are choosing whether to give another six years to President Nicolás Maduro and extend the policies that have caused the world’s worst peacetime economic collapse, or whether to go with his last-minute opponent, retired diplomat Edmundo González.
About 17 million people have the right to vote.
Gonzalez represents an opposition coalition after being chosen in April to be an alternative to opposition leader Maria Corina Machado who was barred by Maduro’s controlled Supreme Tribunal of Justice. In a rare instance, opposition parties have been able to join together in support of one candidate.
Here’s the latest news:
CARACAS, Venezuela — The polls are now open in Venezuela where 17 million voters will be able to decide whether to give the increasingly dictatorial Nicolas Maduro a third presidential term or putting their money for a newcomer who is unknown and promises to end the 25-year period in a single-party system.
Former diplomatic official Edmundo Gonzalez appears to be the sole candidate that poses a real threat to Maduro’s grip on the power.
The opposition voted against the presidential election which allowed Maduro to win comfortably during a time of high inflation and massive shortages.
While the electoral situation has barely improved, the party is vying this time due to the belief that an overwhelming anger at Maduro’s mismanagement in the economic system will lead to his demise. When it last was an unifying front, in the 2015 elections for the parliamentary election it swept away the socialist party in power.
CARACAS, Venezuela –The opposition candidate Edmundo Gonzalez expressed his delight by the large number of Venezuelans waiting from late Saturday night until early Sunday morning at the polling stations.
“Today greater than any time before, Venezuelans demonstrate that we are a individuals. We see lines of hope and joy. Today is the day of peace across everybody in Venezuelans,” said Gonzalez in the presence of journalists just after he had cast his vote.
“The the democratic spirit in Venezuelans is stronger than ever before, now is the time to change things,” added the ex-diplomat. If she wins, Gonzalez promised to create conditions that allow the more than eight millions of Venezuelans to return home to their country after fleeing the escalating crises.
“We are not looking forward to another wave of Venezuelans who leave the nation in addition, for those that left I promise them that we will do everything to ensure they return and receive with open arms,” said the president. said.”To all Venezuelans all over the world Your strength and dedication inspires us. We are all looking for liberty,” he added.Jorge Rueda – Jorge Rueda
CARACAS Venezuela CARACAS, Venezuela Maria Gabriela Chavez was one of the daughters of the late president said as she sat down to made her vote count in a class under the watchful eye of Chavez’s visage that was painted in the walls.
“Tenemos that we can win,” she told AP of the guidance her father could have offered if he were still alive.
The vote on Sunday is scheduled on the 70th birthday celebration of Chavez who died in 2013 from cancer.
Chavez stated that she is in agreement with the decision. It is designed to inspire the affection for her father’s legacy and also give Maduro his carefully selected political heir, a boost in the race that is crowded.
“Siempre ushers in the family of the political,” said Chavez, she plans to still lay an honorary wreath on the grave of her father in the fort’s hilltop location later on Sunday.
CARACAS Venezuela Judy Oropeza says after her sister’s death in 2019, she promised never to vote for the same government that worked with her in the capacity of a teacher at the school.
It was the peak of the economic crisis in Venezuela and due to the widespread shortages, the sister of Oropeza was unable to get the medicine she required to treat hypertension.
Oropeza had been in Colombia looking for work since her low income wasn’t enough to provide for both her husband and son. “I returned home to mourn her with a vengeance,” she said, not letting out a cry.
Today, sitting on a quiet the bench in Caracas famous Plaza Bolivar, she acknowledges that things have changed.
Then she left the career she was passionate about to avoid the hunger that plagues her and she must watch each cent of her $160 monthly in pay within the private sector.”There’s peace today,” she says as street sweepers collect the fallen leaves off the floor of marble. “But there are wounds that will never heal. This is why I support changes.”
– Joshua Goodman
CARACAS, Venezuela — One of the key factors that will determine Maduro’s victory on Sunday is the power of the ruling party to draw its base.
One method, called 1×10, requires each Maduro fan to invite 10 of their relatives and friends members.
When asked Sunday about the efforts to increase voter participation, Maduro campaign chief Jorge Rodriguez stated that “our machine is in good shape.”
–Joshua Goodman
CARACAS Venezuela Authorities have scheduled Sunday’s election to fall on what was the 70th birthday celebration of the former president — one last attempt of the socialist government to get an edge in the arduous electoral fight.
Former president, and adored leftist icon died from cancer in 2013 and left Maduro in the position of his political successor.
In the poor hillside neighborhood, where the remains of Chavez are kept in a mausoleum The supporters shared a cake to celebrate his birthday.
–Joshua Goodman
The president of the Venezuelan National Electoral Council Elvis Amoroso claims that 95% all voting centers across the country are accessible.
The council installed 30026 voting machines to be used in the elections.
Amoroso declared on Sunday that the electoral authorities, along with Amoroso, were in an “clear conscience” regarding the work they carried out.
He stated that all the workers at the polling stations were in the voting centres at the time they began to open around 6 a.m.
–Jorge Rueda
CARACAS, Venezuela — In the working-class Petare neighborhood located on the east of Caracas there were people waiting to vote for hours prior to when the voting began.
Judith Cantilla, a 52-year-old domestic worker told the media, “In the name of God the world is going to be fine. Every person will be able to adopt their place and, well, (it’s time for) to change in Venezuela.”
She also said that people were tired, and that the changes for Venezuela is about more jobs and security, better medical care in hospitals, and higher salaries for doctors and teachers.
And in another area, Liana Ibarra, a manicurist in the city of Caracas was waiting on the queue at around 3.30 a.m. Sunday morning and was greeted by more than 150 people in line ahead of her.
The 35-year-old Ibarra claimed that her aunt sent her a letter in her home in the U.S. at 2 a.m. to check whether she was waiting in the line.
With her backpack in front of her, full of cassava, coffee, and water snacks, Ibarra told me there was an apathy towards election results “but it’s not the case anymore.”
The 11 siblings of her mom have all moved. They have not followed her according to her, as her 5-year-old son has specific needs. However, if Gonzalez fails to win she’ll ask relatives to sponsor her her son’s application to move into U.S. legally. U.S. legally.
“We aren’t able to take any longer,” she said.
— Fabiola Sanchez and Regina Garcia Cano
CARACAS, Venezuela — At least eight of the representatives from parties appointed through the National Electoral Council to provide supervision of the country’s most important voter center in the capital Caracas were denied access to the voting center over an hour after the voting was scheduled to begin.
Police officers swarmed arms around the front door while participants presented their printed certificates, which should grant them access.
Marisol Contreras, 58, head of the party’s representative for the Unitary Platform, said she arrived at 4 a.m. and was told that she could not enter the school for elementary students.
Personnel from the government were at the entrance and informed them that all of the required personnel were inside.
Marlyn Hernandez Coordinator of the voting center She said she was unsure what was the reason for authorized representatives not allowed into the school, where more than 11,000 students have registered voters. The center was opened for at a 90-minute delay.
CARACAS, Venezuela — The incumbent president Nicolas Maduro says he will accept the outcome of the presidential vote and asked other candidates to publicly affirm the results.
Maduro declared after the vote on Sunday Maduro said after the vote that “no one will cause chaos within Venezuela.” The president stated that “I acknowledge and will accept the electoral referee and the declarations of the official authorities” and that he will ensure that the results are acknowledged.
He urged the remaining 9 contestants “to respect, be an effort to be respected, and to publicly declare that they respect the declaration” that the contestant was the one to be announced as winner.
TOKYO, Japan — U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken says Venezuelans deserve an election “that is true to their values and is free of manipulative tactics.”
In a press event held in Tokyo on Sunday Blinken declared that the U.S. does not influence the outcome of the election and the international group will be “watching closely” and urged all candidates to “honor their pledges and adhere to the democratic processes.”
Blinken stated that, despite suffering extreme restrictions, Venezuelans are showing “enormous enthusiasm” for the upcoming election.
He added that”the U.S. and the international community have supported in the Barbados electoral roadmap agreement in order to restore the freedoms of political expression throughout Venezuela,” even though Maduro and his representatives have failed to meet some of the commitments.
CARACAS Venezuela opposition supporters welcomed the presidential campaigner Daniel Ceballos with shouts of “Get out! Get out! Get out! The culprit!” as he arrived to cast his vote at an institution in the city of Caracas.
Ceballos was one of the leaders of protests against Maduro in 2014 that demanded the president’s resignation, less than one month after his election. He was incarcerated for his actions.
Ceballos had lost some of his vigor when he was released from prison some years after. Recently, he wowed all who knew him by registering to challenge Maduro with a scathing critique of the opposition coalition that considers him to be an outsider and a pity for Maduro’s efforts to remain in his position of power.
–Joshua Goodman
Clarisa Machado has voted in favor of Maduro from the middle-class Caracas community of Petare.
The sociologist, 74, was confident that the knowledge and experience the government has gained through years of crises would help it be better prepared to handle the challenges that are yet to be faced and also enhance Venezuelans their standard of living.
“We Venezuelans, when they knock us down, we rise back up, and it serves as a lesson to ensure that we don’t be able to fall again,” she said.
–Jorge Rueda