By: Staff Writer
July 26, 2024
President Nicolas Maduro is facing his toughest presidential election to date as the Opposition candidate, Edmundo González, is leading by a very wide margin in the polls.
More than 80 per cent of Venezuelans in a recent poll said they wanted a change of politics, including those who support the Bolivarian project. For the first time in decades, voters say they are willing to turn out to cast their ballots, a dramatic change from years of declining voter trust and participation in elections.
Latin American leaders this week have publicly called for Maduro to accept Sunday’s results if he loses.
President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva of Brazil said “for the sake of Venezuela and for the sake of South America” he hopes the electoral process is respected and fair.
Lula also mentioned he was scared to hear Maduro recently say in a public event that there could be a “bloodbath” if his party loses.
President Irfaan Ali of Guyana has remained silent, despite a lot being at stake for his country with regard to the current border dispute the Maduro regime has whipped up at the Essequibo river region.
Maduro, for his part, has toughened his tone in the run-up to the vote, claiming that a victory for the opposition could plunge the country into “a fratricidal civil war provoked by fascists” and warning of a “bloodbath”.
This is why observers are voicing concern that the election may not be free and fair and there may be a chance that Maduro won’t accept the results if he loses, or the results may be rigged so blatantly in his favour.
Votes matter only if they are counted fairly, of course—a prospect that remains very much in doubt in a country where the government controls all levers of power, including the CNE electoral authority, which is tasked with overseeing election transparency and relaying results to the nation and the international community. Even so, fundamentals, including polling and on-the-ground campaign reporting, now favor the opposition so strongly that an irreversible victory is possible.
“While the election in Venezuela will hardly be free or fair, Venezuelans have their best chance in over a decade to elect their government, and the international community should have their back as they do,” said Juanita Goebertus, Americas director at Human Rights Watch. “The United States, Brazil, Colombia, and the European Union should use all the diplomatic tools at their disposal to protect Venezuelans’ right to vote.”