NNicolás Maduro or Edmundo González? That is the question that Venezuelans hope to resolve when they are called to the polls this Sunday, July 28, in a historic presidential election that will not only define the future of the South American country, but of the region as well. when what is at stake is whether the regime will continue, forcing a new and feared wave of migration, or whether there will be a democratic transition that, in any case, will have serious challenges ahead.
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Given the challenges that the electoral process represents for countries such as Colombia, Peru and Mexico, the main recipients of the Venezuelan diaspora in the region that already has 7.7 million migrants and that face an unprecedented wave of crime due to gangs such as the Tren de Araguathe Grupo de Diarios América (GDA) will hold the major forum Elections in Venezuela 2024: What is at stake for Latin America? next Thursday, July 25 at 9 am, in which key issues such as migration, security and democracy will be addressed.
Guadalupe Galván, editor of the World section of the Mexican newspaper El Universal; Stephany Echavarría, international editor of the Colombian newspaper El Tiempo; Francisco Sanz, international editor of the Peruvian newspaper El Comercio; and Carolina Álvarez Peñafiel, editor of the International section of El Mercurio of Chile, will speak with Venezuelan lawyer and geopolitics and diplomacy expert Mariano de Alba about the keys to these elections.
How is Venezuela preparing for the presidential elections on July 28?
For the moment, the polls do not favor Chavismo, which is seeking six more years in power with Nicolás Maduro at the helm, unlike an opposition that is confident in the polls.
President Nicolás Maduro, who has been in power for 11 years, will face former diplomat Edmundo González, the main opposition candidate, as well as eight other candidates. This comes after the main opposition candidate, María Corina Machado, who won the opposition primaries with 92 percent of the votes, was banned from holding public office for 15 years. However, she has managed to transfer her political strength to González and together they are maintaining an intense campaign plagued by threats, blockades and arbitrary arrests.
President Nicolás Maduro, who has already been in power for 11 years, will face former diplomat Edmundo González, the main opposition candidate, as well as eight other candidates.
González, 74, is seen as a hope for a democratic return under Machado, who is considered the most powerful political figure in Venezuela since Hugo Chávez in 1998.
However, the concerns lie in the fact that the elections actually take place, and in the possibility that Maduro wins the elections, loses and decides to stay by force, or accepts defeat and begins negotiations for the transition.
With 51.9 percent of Venezuela’s population living in poverty, more than 21 million Venezuelans are registered to vote, but forced migration may significantly reduce this number, with fewer than 200,000 estimated to have met the criteria to vote at embassies or consulates abroad during this election.
To ensure international legitimacy, the Venezuelan government has agreed to the UN sending an electoral mission with four experts. The Carter Center of the United States and the European Union will also deploy an election observation mission.
When and where?
Follow the live broadcast this Thursday at 9 am through the web portals of Grupo de Diarios América, an exclusive consortium made up of the 12 most influential independent newspapers in Latin America.: The Nation (Argentina), O Globo (Brazil), El Mercurio (Chile), El Tiempo (Colombia), The Nation (Costa Rica), The Graphic Press (El Salvador), The Universal (Mexico), The Commerce (Peru), The New Day (Puerto Rico), Listin Daily (Dominican Republic), The Country (Uruguay) and The National (Venezuela).
STEPHANY ECHAVARRÍA – INTERNATIONAL EDITOR – EL TIEMPO
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