In Venezuela this week, the election campaign began for this year's presidential elections, which will be produced on July 28.
For President Nicolás Maduro, who will fight for a third six-year term in the elections, the election campaign began with a show of strength. Demonstrations in support of the head of state were organized in dozens of cities in Venezuela, reports Agence France-Presse.
Thousands of people took part in the demonstrations in support of Nicolás Maduro, waving flags and carrying portraits of the late President Hugo Chavez and Maduro himself.
AFP notes that less than a month before the election, there are many question marks surrounding the upcoming vote, such as whether Maduro will be able to mobilize enough voters to be re-elected.
The start of the election campaign was marked by opposition claims that the authorities were persecuting it and by government claims that the opposition was plotting and preparing “terrorist attacks”.
Attitudes of voters
AFP notes that, according to most sociological surveys of voter attitudes, the opposition has the lead.
Nicolas Maduro, however, has a different opinion.
„We are leading convincingly, but we cannot be inactive,”, Maduro told his supporters near the presidential palace in the center of Caracas.
Maduro is following his own advice and has been extremely active in recent weeks, traveling throughout Venezuela and appearing regularly on television.
Maduro's promises and the wishes of the opposition
Maduro is promising economic recovery after an unprecedented crisis that has seen Venezuela's gross domestic product shrink by 80% in 10 years and seven million Venezuelans, according to the United Nations, have fled their homeland.
About 2.8 million Venezuelans currently live in Colombia, a million and a half – in Peru and 568 thousand – in Brazil, Reuters notes, also noting the fact that the number of Venezuelans heading north to reach the United States is increasing sharply.
„For every sanction there is a solution. We will respond to any aggression with more revolution! Today begins a new and blessed era, Venezuela will flourish and prosper, Maduro promised.
The government organized demonstrations in 70 cities because Hugo Chavez would have turned 70 years old this year if he were still alive.
However, the opposition did not remain inactive and organized its own events, with the participation of its leader Maria Corina Machado. Machado has already traveled all over Venezuela by car and in every city she has been warmly received by the locals.
„This power cannot be stopped. This is much more than an election campaign, it is a deep feeling related to freedom in Venezuela”, the opposition leader told journalists.
Is victory guaranteed for the winner?
„It is one thing to win the elections, it is quite another to be recognized” for the winner, university professor Guillermo Tell Aveledo told AFP.
„The election campaign is atypical, it concentrates more on perceptions and prospects for the country, and not so much on specific programs”, the scientist points out.
Nicolas Maduro is trying to negotiate a lifting of sanctions against Caracas after part of the international community refused to recognize his victory in 2018 elections that were boycotted by the opposition.