Venezuela is holding elections on Sunday in which longtime President Nicolas Maduro will face a challenge from united opposition candidate Edmundo Gonzalez.
Venezuela’s elections were billed as the freest in decades, but the country has continued to crack down on the opposition, which fears Maduro will resort to electoral fraud to stay in power or refuse to concede if he loses. The crackdown has gone so far as to bar the most popular opposition leader, Maria Corina, from running.
Maduro has already resorted to threatening rhetoric to stay in power, warning of possible “bloodshed” if he is defeated.
“If they do not want Venezuela to turn into a bloody civil war created by fascists, a civil war between brothers, then we will guarantee the greatest success, the greatest electoral victory for our people,” Maduro told AFP.
Analysts say Maduro unlikely to concede defeat
Opinion polls suggest the opposition has a good chance of toppling President Maduro, who has ruled Venezuela since 2013. But the question is whether he will respect that mandate if the opposition loses, or whether the election will be free and fair at all.
Analysts say Maduro is unlikely to concede defeat, according to AFP news agency.
According to the news agency, President Maduro is unlikely to concede defeat without immunity guarantees, especially as he is under investigation for human rights violations by the International Criminal Court (ICC).
How Maduro plunged Venezuela into chaos
During his decade-long rule, Maduro has presided over Venezuela’s economic collapse and severe decline in democracy, and is accused of cracking down on dissent and critics and imprisoning hundreds of political prisoners.
Venezuela has the world’s largest oil reserves, but production and sales have plummeted under Maduro, whose deep-rooted corruption and sanctions that have plunged the country into a geopolitical conflict with the United States have dramatically reduced oil revenues.
Under Maduro’s rule, Venezuela’s gross domestic product has fallen by about 80 percent, and the country is facing high inflation and severe food shortages.
As the situation in Venezuela worsened under Maduro’s rule, some 7.7 million people fled the country and sought refuge across the Americas, according to the United Nations.
A Gallup poll also found that 68 percent of Venezuelans are struggling to get food, and 59 percent of the wealthiest 20 percent say they can’t afford to buy food because of inflation.
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