On July 28, elections will be held in Venezuela. The country, which suffers from a deep economic and social crisis, has been ruled since 2013 by the left-wing populist Nicolás Maduro.
Promised free elections
Now the opposition is gathering strength in an attempt to challenge the president, who is suffering from rock-bottom public opinion figures.
Maduro, who is not recognized by the outside world, promised last fall that this year’s elections would be free and democratic. In exchange, the US promised to ease its sanctions on Venezuela’s oil, gas and gold sectors.
– Maduro realized that this was his only chance to be considered a legitimate president by the outside world. That’s what he wants, says Erik Jennische.
Blocked from the selection
But few believe that the upcoming election will be democratic. Candidate after candidate from the opposition has been blocked from participating and several oppositionists have been arrested.
Maduro’s main challenger, María Corina Machado, received around 90 percent of the vote in the primary election last fall. In January, it became clear that she is stopped from participating in the election after the Supreme Court convicted her of corruption. The verdict has been questioned, among other things as the court is completely under the government’s control.
Nor did the 80-year-old university teacher Corina Yoris manage to register her candidacy after she was denied access to the electoral authority’s computer system. The challenger will instead be Manuel Rosales, who is said to be closer to Maduro.
Two candidates from the opposition
Whether the opposition has any chance of challenging the incumbent president remains to be seen, he believes. It is clear that Maduro will do everything to stay in power.
– Maduro winning the people’s votes is unlikely. However, it is likely that he will succeed in retaining power. Then the population will be pushed even deeper into the human rights crisis that already prevails.