Venezuelan voters go to the polls for president

On July 28, Venezuelan voters went to the polls to elect a president for the 2025-2031 term. There are a total of 10 candidates in this Venezuelan presidential election.

However, according to assessments, this will only be a confrontation between incumbent President Nicolas Maduro, representing the ruling United Socialist Party of Venezuela (PSUV), and diplomat Edmundo González Urrutia representing the Democratic Unity Roundtable (MUD) - an alliance that brings together liberals, Christian socialists, socialists and conservatives.

Venezuela is holding presidential elections as economic sanctions imposed by the United States continue to have serious and far-reaching consequences for the lives of its people, such as shortages of medicine and food, a decline in the quality of life and a wave of emigration.

In recent days, Mr. Maduro has traveled across Venezuela, inaugurating hospital wards and highways and visiting remote rural areas. President Maduro’s speeches have focused on economic security, punctuated by stories of entrepreneurship, mentions of a stable exchange rate and lower inflation.

Venezuela’s economy has begun to pick up after the Covid-19 pandemic, with the International Monetary Fund forecasting it will grow 4% in 2024 — one of the fastest in Latin America — after shrinking 71% from 2012 to 2020. Mr. Maduro has promised a government that will create enough jobs to lure Venezuelans living abroad back home.

The latest poll by the Venezuelan Center for Measurement and Statistical Data shows that 56.8% of respondents said they would vote for Nicolás Maduro; meanwhile, 76% of respondents believe that Maduro will be re-elected president, and 13% believe that the opposition will win.

If re-elected, Mr. Maduro will serve a third consecutive term as president of Venezuela, bringing his total number of years in power to 18.

HUY QUOC

Source: https://www.sggp.org.vn/cu-tri-venezuela-di-bau-tong-thong-post751457.html