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Al Jazeera
25-05-2025
- Politics
- Al Jazeera
Venezuelans vote amid boycott calls and fears of government repression
Venezuelans are casting their ballots in legislative and regional elections under the shadow of a heightened government crackdown and opposition leaders calling for a boycott. Sunday's elections are the first to allow comprehensive voter participation since last year's disputed presidential vote, which President Nicolas Maduro claimed to have won despite contradictory evidence. It is also taking place two days after the government detained dozens of people, including a prominent opposition leader, and accused them of being linked to an alleged plot to hinder the vote. In the first hours after the polls opened, members of the military reportedly outnumbered voters in some voting centres in the capital, Caracas. No lines formed outside the polling stations, including the country's largest – a stark contrast with the hundreds of people gathered around the same time for the July 28 presidential election. Many people appeared to have lost faith in the electoral process. 'I am not going to vote after they stole the elections last year. For what? I don't want to be disappointed again,' Caracas resident Paula Aranguren said. In the eyes of the opposition, voter participation legitimises Maduro's claim to power and what they brand as his government's repressive apparatus. After the presidential election, 25 people were reportedly killed and more than 2,000 people were detained – including protesters, poll workers, political activists and minors – to quash dissent. The government also issued arrest warrants against opposition leaders, levelling charges against them ranging from conspiracy to falsifying records. Despite the risks, campaigning for some has remained a key form of resistance against the government. 'History is full of evidence that voting is an instrument towards democracy,' Henrique Capriles, a former opposition presidential candidate now running for a seat in the National Assembly, told Al Jazeera. 'I believe the way we stood for our rights last year kept alive the peaceful fight for our constitution because voting is what we have left to manifest our rejection of Maduro and his government,' Capriles said. Meanwhile, the ruling party is touting an overwhelming victory across the country, just as it has done in previous regional elections. A nationwide poll conducted from April 29 to May 4 by the Venezuela-based research firm Delphos showed only 15.9 percent of voters expressed a high probability of voting on Sunday. Of those, 74.2 percent said they would vote for the candidates of the ruling United Socialist Party of Venezuela and its allies while 13.8 percent said they would vote for contenders associated with two opposition leaders who are not boycotting the elections. Maduro accuses the opposition of attempts to destabilise the country. 'The death throes of fascism have tried to bring in mercenaries, and today, we have already captured more than 50 mercenaries who came in to plant bombs or launch violent attacks in the country,' he told supporters before election day. Political analysts said the chances that free and fair elections would take place are practically nonexistent. 'There won't be witnesses at the table, very few witnesses. Nobody wants to be a witness,' political analyst Benigno Alarcon told Al Jazeera, adding that low voter turnout, no understanding of who the candidates are and the lack of international observers are likely going to make the elections unfair. Some voters who cast ballots on Sunday said they did so out of fear of losing their government jobs or food and other state-controlled benefits. 'Most of my friends aren't going to vote, not even a blank vote,' state employee Miguel Otero, 69, told The Associated Press news agency. 'But we must comply. We have to send the photo [showing] I'm here at the polling station now.'
Associated Press
25-05-2025
- Politics
- Associated Press
Venezuelans to vote for lawmakers and governors as opposition asks them to boycott election
CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) — Venezuelan voters have been summoned to choose lawmakers, governors and other elected officials Sunday against a backdrop of heightened government repression. But many are weighing whether to heed opposition pleas to skip the polls and the ruling party's calls to participate. The election will be the first to allow broad voter participation since last year's presidential contest, which President Nicolás Maduro claimed to have won despite credible evidence to the contrary. It will take place two days after his government detained dozens of people, including a prominent opposition leader, and linked them to an alleged plot to hinder the vote. Participation, in the eyes of the opposition, legitimizes Maduro's claim to power and his government's repressive apparatus, which after the July presidential election detained more than 2,000 people including protesters, poll workers, political activists and minors, to quash dissent. Meanwhile, the ruling party is already touting overwhelming victory across the country, just as it has done in previous regional elections regardless of opposition participation. A nationwide poll conducted between April 29 and May 4 by the Venezuela-based research firm Delphos showed that only 15.9% of voters expressed a high probability of voting Sunday. Of those, 74.2% said they would vote for the candidates of the ruling United Socialist Party of Venezuela and its allies, while 13.8% said they would vote for contenders associated with two opposition leaders who are not boycotting the elections. 'I think it's absolutely despicable,' opposition operative Humberto Villalobos said Saturday referring to the election participation of some opposition members. 'We're facing the most brutal repression in recent years in the country. (The vote) is a comedy, a parody.' Villalobos was elections division chief for opposition leader Maria Corina Machado when he and five other government opponents sought refuge in March 2024 at a diplomatic compound in Venezuela's capital to avoid arrest. He spent more than a year there and on Saturday, along with four of the others, spoke publicly for the first time since they left the compound and arrived in the United States earlier this month. U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who met with the group Friday, has described their departure from the compound as an international rescue operation. That assertion has been challenged by Venezuelan Interior Minister Diosdado Cabello, who has said it was the result of a negotiation with the government. The ruling party-loyal National Electoral Council will oversee Sunday's election for state legislators, 285 members of the unicameral National Assembly and all 24 governors, including the newly created governorship purportedly established to administer Essequibo, a region long under dispute between Venezuela and neighboring Guyana. In Maduro's Venezuela, Sunday's results will have little impact on people's lives because his highly centralized government controls practically everything from the capital, Caracas. The government also represses the opposition by, for instance, disqualifying a candidate after the election or appointing a ruling-party loyalist to oversee the elected offices held by opponents, rendering them powerless. Further, after the opposition won control of the National Assembly in 2015, Maduro created an election for members of a Constituent Assembly in 2017. That body, controlled by the ruling party, decreed itself superior to all other branches of government until it ceased to exist in 2020.
