Venezuelan presidential candidates hold final rallies before elections | Politics News

As Venezuela prepares to elect a new president on Sunday, current President Nicolás Maduro and the main candidate, Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia, end their campaigns.

Venezuela’s government and opposition ended the official period of the presidential election campaign with demonstrations of support that attracted thousands of people to the streets of the capital Caracas.

President Nicolás Maduro, who is seeking a third term, appeared Thursday before supporters on a huge stage set up on one of the city’s main roads and rallied attendees with musical breaks and dances that spiced up his speech.

Maduro told the crowd, some of whom were transported to Caracas on state buses, that his opponents were promoters of violence and described himself as a man who could guarantee peace.

“Which of the 10 candidates guarantees peace and stability?” Maduro asked the crowd.

Maduro warned last week of a “bloodbath” if he lost, comments that drew criticism from Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.

Brazil’s Electoral Court and former Argentine president Alberto Fernández said on Wednesday that they had given up acting as election observers on Sunday.

Maduro’s supporters say he has continued the legacy of his predecessor, Hugo Chávez, and continues to be a defender of the poor.

“It’s good for us if he [Maduro] wins,” said civil servant Luisa Medina, 51 years old. “It is the only government that thought of us, the poor,” said Medina.

Maduro is being challenged by former diplomat Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia – who represents the resurgent opposition – and eight other candidates.

Urrutia and opposition party leader Maria Corina Machado – who gathered far fewer supporters for their final rally on Thursday – moved through the city on a platform affixed to a truck until they arrived in a middle-class neighborhood of Caracas.

Gonzalez said he trusts the country’s military to ensure respect for the results of Sunday’s vote.

Tense elections

Venezuela’s military has long supported Maduro and Chávez, although the country’s defense minister, Gen. Vladimir Padrino, has said the armed forces will respect the outcome of the vote.

Gonzalez inherited the opposition mantle from Machado, who was barred from holding public office. Supporters have expressed fears that Gonzalez could also face a similar ban or other restrictions, but he said he was confident of a peaceful vote and a decisive victory on Sunday.

Maduro’s government has presided over an economic collapse in Venezuela, the migration of about a third of the population and a sharp deterioration in diplomatic relations, which was crowned by sanctions imposed by the United States, the European Union and others, which paralyzed the already existing situation in the country. – oil industry in difficulties.

The US reimposed sanctions on Venezuela’s oil in April, accusing Maduro of reneging on agreements reached with the opposition to guarantee democratic elections.

On Thursday, the White House expressed concern about the threat of violence surrounding the elections, warning Maduro that the vote must be fair and free from repression.

The polls will be open from 6am (10am GMT) to 6pm (10pm GMT) on Sunday and the results are expected to be known on Sunday night or in the following days.