Nicolás Maduro wants a third six-year term and offers his Chavista left // The closest rival is Edmundo González, supported by Corina Machado
▲ Maduro concluded his campaign in Caracas, in front of thousands of supporters. In the image above, Corina Machado, to the right of candidate Edmundo González, greets the crowd in a middle-class neighborhood.Photo Ap
AP and AFP
The newspaper La Jornada
Friday, July 26, 2024, p. 28
Caracas. With demonstrations and rallies from one end of the Venezuelan capital to the other, the government and the opposition went out yesterday to measure their strength in the closing of the electoral campaign for the elections on Sunday in which President Nicolás Maduro is vying for re-election for a third term.
The campaign was dominated by polarization and tension over Maduro’s messages that a victory for the opposition bloc, led by María Corina Machado with the candidacy of Edmundo González, could unleash a bloodbath in the country.
In his closing speech before several thousand supporters, Maduro called on his citizens to go out and vote and assured that the election will decide “the future of Venezuela, and its 28 million inhabitants, for the next few years.”
Only we guarantee the peace and stability of this countrysaid the Chavista during a massive rally in the center of Caracas, in which he also launched criticism against his adversaries whom he called patarucosnickname for fighting cocks bad race.
Who among the 10 candidates guarantees peace and stability?Maduro asked rhetorically, and finished Do you want a puppet president to come and privatize?
The opposition coalition, which is promising change after 25 years of Chavista rule, called on its supporters to gather in a middle-class neighborhood in the east of the capital, one of its main strongholds.
The main avenue of Las Mercedes, more than a kilometer long, served as the stage for the opposition rally where several thousand opponents gathered from mid-afternoon awaiting the arrival of Machado and González, who described the campaign as heroic and assured that it was possible thanks to the union of all democratic forces and the leadership of María Corina Machado.
González, a 74-year-old former diplomat, was elected opposition candidate in March after the Comptroller General’s Office banned Machado from public office for 15 years, preventing her from registering as a candidate.
The president’s messages caused concern in the international community.
Among the world leaders who expressed concern, Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva admitted earlier this week that he was scared by Maduro’s recent comments that there could be a bloodbath if he loses the elections and does not achieve re-election. His Chilean counterpart, Gabriel Boric, yesterday urged Venezuelan institutions to seek elections transparent, competitive and subject to international observation.