Caracas, Venezuela
CNN
—
Venezuelans headed to the polls on Sunday to cast their ballots in a crucial presidential election in which the country's longtime ruler, Nicolas Maduro, will face one of his biggest political challenges yet, analysts said.
Long lines began forming at polling stations in the capital, Caracas, before they opened at 6 a.m. ET, as Venezuelans flee the country to escape the economic collapse, with some telling CNN they were there to vote, risking the country's future.
“I'm doing this for my children and my grandchildren,” voter Amelia Perez told CNN, saying she has three sons, one of whom lives in Washington, D.C. “I want my son to come back and I don't want my kids to leave. My whole family has left.”
Maduro is seeking a third consecutive six-year term after taking over from the Chavista movement after the death of his predecessor Hugo Chavez in 2013. Of the nine other candidates running for president, his biggest rival is the United Opposition Movement, which has overcome divisions to form a coalition known as the Platform for Democratic Unity.
The opposition movement has maintained momentum despite continuing government repression, including the disqualification of its front-runner, Maria Corina Machado, from running. An avowed capitalist who has pledged to privatize several state-run industries, Machado has since endorsed a quietist former diplomat, Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia, to replace her.
The vote comes at a crucial time for Venezuela, which has endured a violent crackdown under Maduro and the worst economic collapse of any country in recent peacetime. Once the world's fifth-largest oil producer, the country Latin America's largest city has seen its economy shrink to the size of a mid-sized city over the past decade, according to data from the International Monetary Fund.
Matthias Delacroix/AP
Voters line up before a polling station opens for the presidential election in Caracas, Venezuela, Sunday, July 28, 2024.
Tough sanctions imposed by the United States and the European Union against the regime have failed to topple the populist president, who claims Venezuela's plight is the victim of an “economic war.”
Shortages of basic goods and soaring inflation have forced some eight million Venezuelans to flee the country.
President Maduro voted at 6 a.m. in Caracas and called on people to respect the election results.
The opposition coalition reported minor irregularities, but as of 11 a.m. ET, voting procedures appeared to be going smoothly in most parts of the country and turnout was high.
The Maduro regime controls all of Venezuela's public institutions and has been accused of rigging past votes, charges it denies, raising concerns among the opposition that the election will not be fair. But experts say concerns about vote manipulation may be mitigated because opposition representatives are expected to be present at each polling station.
According to the human rights group Laboratorio de Paz, at least 71 people were arbitrarily detained during the election campaign, most of them providing services to the opposition, and 12 online media outlets in the country were blocked.
The government has also created significant obstacles to voting for the millions of Venezuelans living abroad, including passports and residency status that are extremely difficult to obtain.
A limited number of election observers are expected to be on the ground, including a team from the Carter Center, a nonprofit founded by former US President Jimmy Carter, but several international election observers said this week that they would no longer travel to Venezuela to monitor the vote.
Latin American leaders, including Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, have called on Maduro to promise to step down if he loses. Venezuela's opposition has also called on the country's military, which has long backed Maduro and his predecessor, to respect the election results. The Venezuelan leader has said his victory would guarantee “peace” in the country.
How the military responds to the outcome could be a key factor in any scenario, but analysts say it's impossible to analyze the military's position.
“The military is absolutely important, but it must also be said that the military is very closed off. [and] “It's very difficult to get information on what Venezuela is thinking,” Laura Cristina Dibb, Venezuela program director at the Washington Office on Latin America (WOLA), told CNN.
Voting ends at 6pm ET.
CNN's Stefano Pozzebon, David Shortell and Michael Rios reported.
