Against all odds, the opposition in Venezuela held the primaries to choose the candidate who will face Nicolás Maduro in the 2024 presidential elections. From very early on, the centers were filled with voters, mostly elderly people.
(Also read: LIVE: this is how the voting for Venezuela’s opposition primaries progresses)
Contrary to what many thought, in most centers expectations were exceeded and the number of people was large. If the process continues in this way, at the closing of the tables, at 4 in the afternoon, we could speak of a participation of between 6 and 8 percent of the electoral register, which is 20 million.
The incidents of violence have not been constant, however threats have been reported from groups that identify with the ruling party and in a community in Caracas a group of motorized vehicles launched tear gas bombs, affecting the elderly in the queue.
“We do not lose faith, here we are looking for change in our country,” said Ernesto Hernández, a voter who was in line very early in the Santa Eduvigis area, in Caracas.
Since 2012, a primary election has not been held in Venezuela, at that time Henrique Capriles was the winner with a little more than a million votes. On that occasion, participation was 17 percent of the electoral registration.
1:00 pm | At the electoral center located near El Muerto Corner in the Santa Rosalía parish, in Caracas, a tear gas bomb was thrown. Older people were the most affected. Voters are back in line, and they want to vote.
Via @DiarioTalCual pic.twitter.com/xH1o3NyJ2p— Victor Amaya (@victoramaya) October 22, 2023
Abroad, 396,818 voters are eligible, of which 310,300 were updated in the application activated in the middle of the year by the Commission, and 84,423 were already in the CNE Electoral Registry abroad. In addition, the process had 2,409 board members. In Venezuela, 5,134 tables were installed in 3,010 voting centers.
For many, the number of Venezuelans voting has been a surprise, especially because it was a self-managed process because the National Electoral Council did not respond in time to support the process.
This could give way to a political reconfiguration in Venezuela. For political scientist Piero Trepiccione, “a new legitimacy of origin is emerging. The country changed and many political actors did not see it coming. “Today’s event is going to have political consequences far greater than what we imagined until just a few hours ago.”
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After her vote, the candidate María Corina Machado indicated that this was a show of strength by Venezuelans, and that it was the beginning of a new process to achieve power.
ANA MARÍA RODRÍGUEZ BRAZÓN
TIME CORRESPONDENT
CARACAS
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