The electoral campaign for Sunday’s presidential elections in Venezuela closed on Thursday with rallies and demonstrations. The opposition expressed confidence that the armed forces would respect the results, while the government promised peace and dialogue.
There are 10 candidatesbut two of them polarize the voting intention: the candidate for reelection, Nicolás Maduro, and the opposition candidate, Edmundo González Urrutia, who is supported by María Corina Machado, winner of the opposition presidential primary, but disqualified from holding public office.
“We are going to win and we are going to get paid, and we trust that our Armed Forces will enforce the will of our people. Thousands of Venezuelans want change,” González Urrutia said at a press conference before participating in the last rally of his campaign.
This week, Defense Minister Vladimir Padrino López said that they will wait for the people’s decision through the electoral body. “The one who won, should get on top of his government project and the one who lost, should go and rest,” he said.
González Urrutia, a 74-year-old retired ambassador and the favorite according to polls, and Machado, a 56-year-old engineer and former parliamentarian, signed an agreement on Thursday for a government of democratic transformation based on the principles of freedom, unity, consensus, civility, rule of law, reunion and a sense of urgency, backed by the coalition of opposition parties.
Inviting Venezuelans to vote and insisting that the vote be secret, the presidential candidate offered a series of transformations to rebuild the country and stressed that they are not here to persecute anyone.
Machado, for his part, asked people to go out and vote as early as possible, urged citizens to remain in the voting centers throughout the day and called on them to participate in the citizen verification process.
“This moment represents the end of a cycle and the beginning of a new era, the end of a cycle of chaos to begin an era of order, stability and security. The end of a cycle of violence to advance in an era of peace, of respect. The end of a cycle of misery to begin a stage of prosperity and well-being,” said the opposition leader.
The opposition reiterated that it will have witnesses at each of the 30,026 voting tables.
Continuity
In parallel, Maduro, who is seeking a third term, offered “peace” and “dialogue” in a video pre-recorded at the Miraflores Palace and broadcast by the state channel at noon on Thursday.
Wearing the presidential sash, Maduro, 61, explained that his goal for the coming years is to “preserve peace” and “consolidate a new productive economic model” in the country, which in turn will lead to “national reconciliation and harmony,” although he denounced “the blockade” due to economic sanctions and coup attempts and assassination attempts against him.
His plan, he said, represents “great changes and transformations” and “a meeting between Venezuelans.” His message on Thursday contrasts with his mentions of civil war and “a bloodbath” in the event of his defeat, in electoral campaign events in recent days.
“I am the only candidate who has a plan made in Venezuela (…) to build in peace, with stability and dialogue (…) We have in our hands a golden opportunity to lay the foundations of an alternative Venezuela, a power and to ensure 50 years of peace, stability, with growth, of happiness. More homeland, more changes, more transformations,” he said.
He reaffirmed his project for communes where the priority of social plans for the communities is decided, to deliver one million loans to entrepreneurs this year and to guarantee a “stable” monetary system.
He asked Venezuelans for “common sense and patriotism” when they elect their president for the next six years at the polls this Sunday.
“We all fit in, it is one country, we have the same destiny,” he added.
End of the campaign
Supporters of the government and the opposition gathered at various points in Caracas where they waved Venezuelan flags and messages expressing their support for the candidates.
Aboard a truck surrounded by motorcyclists, González Urrutia, along with part of his family, Machado and leaders of the main opposition parties, traveled through several streets of the Venezuelan capital until reaching the main avenue of Las Mercedes, a residential area where dozens of people were waiting for them.
At the rally, many citizens held signs calling for the release of political prisoners and the return of their loved ones to the country.
Machado previously thanked all those who made it possible to carry out an electoral campaign without resources, interviews or coverage on national television or radio.
Several hotels, inns and restaurants have been sanctioned and closed by Venezuela’s tax authority after offering their services to opposition leaders. People who have offered logistics services have also been arrested.
Maduro, meanwhile, participated in rallies in Maracaibo, in the state of Zulia in western Venezuela, and closed in Caracas, where his supporters gathered in front of a large platform with eye-catching screens, which was installed on Bolívar Avenue, one of the most important in the capital.
There he danced, sang, chanted slogans and gave a speech accompanied by his wife, senior officials and singers who attended his rallies.
He once again attacked his main rival without mentioning him explicitly, spoke of growth, economic prosperity and asked for the support of Venezuelans in the elections.
“Peace or war; riot or tranquility; extreme right or Chavistas; fascism or popular democracy; wild capitalism or Christian socialism,” he said, insisting that the future of the country for the next 50 years will be decided on Sunday.
“We will not allow them to continue causing harm. They have run out of time. If they deprive themselves of the light, they will regret it for 200 years. It will be the last mistake they will make in their political life. There will be an iron fist and justice for the violent fascists and rioters,” he warned.
At least 77 people were arrested in the context of the electoral campaign that began on July 4 and was marked by allegations of repression and systematic persecution by the State.
The ruling party has accused the opposition of seeking to claim electoral fraud on Sunday and of planning violence. But the opposition coalition, which has questioned whether the election will be competitive, has insisted it is seeking a peaceful transition through voting.
Venezuela, which has experienced years of polarization and political tension, has been experiencing a complex humanitarian emergency and an economic crisis since at least 2014, which, according to UNHCR figures, has led more than 7 million people to migrate in search of a better quality of life. The government attributes this to sanctions imposed by the international community.
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