Venezuela will vote on Sunday in a criticized presidential election in which President Nicolás Maduro would triumph amid an opposition boycott, which accuses the president of wanting to perpetuate a "dictatorship," and the deepest economic crisis in the country's oil history. .
Given the apathy of many Venezuelans, more concerned with finding a way to survive amid a galloping hyperinflation, lack of food and medicine and intermittent public services, the candidates' biggest challenge on Sunday is to convince them to go out and pay.
With the most po[CENSORED]r opposition leaders unable to run for the elections due to legal barriers, the coalition of rival ruling party parties called on Venezuelans to abstain from voting.
But former Governor Henri Falcón and evangelical pastor Javier Bertucci will challenge Maduro, who is expected to win the elections with the oiled apparatus of the ruling party despite the fact that his po[CENSORED]rity is at minimum levels and that the deep crisis will take its toll.
Everyone promises to get the country out of economic turmoil. Maduro says he will end it once and for all with what he calls an "economic war" of the right backed by Washington, Falcon says the key is to dollarize the economy and Bertucci aims to reactivate the activity with investments.
Although the polls show dissimilar results, several show the two minority candidates very far from Maduro, a bus ex-bus driver and ex-unionist, in the preferences.
"There are many things that are wrong and we have to rectify them." We can not cover our eyes, "said Maduro, 55, at the end of his campaign with his wife and ex-Argentine soccer player Diego Maradona, who was waving a Venezuelan flag.
"If you give me your vote and give me the victory, I swear to you that I will lead the great economic changes and I will make an economic revolution that will shake the whole world, I will do it whatever it takes, late what happens" , he assured.
Despite the hardships that many Venezuelans face, ranging from not getting spare parts to reagents for blood tests, many others are still faithful to the movement of the late leader Hugo Chávez, who created a strong bond with the most disadvantaged with his generous plans. social and welfare and designated Maduro as his political successor.
"I follow the legacy of my commander Hugo Chávez," said Juan Pérez, a 38-year-old plumber in a poor neighborhood in southern Valencia, once an industrial city some 150 kilometers south of Caracas that is now mired in unemployment. .
"But I do believe that the country does deserve good government, improvements in transportation and health," the man added.
Venezuela has suffered in recent years violent street protests and the exodus of millions of citizens due to the crisis. Today, with the opposition fractured after successive defeats and the invalidation of parties by the electoral authority, many will not even go to vote.
"The electoral route expired in Venezuela with this government," said Amílcar Guevara, a 51-year-old transporter in San Felix, a town in the south of the country.
The United States, European countries and Latin Americans have said they will not know the outcome of the polls, a warning dismissed by the Maduro government.
When Maduro came to power in 2013 after Chávez's death, few believed he could stay in office for more than a few months because of his inexperience, a strengthened opposition and amid a collapse in the international oil price that promised problems.
"Today I am no longer the candidate of five years ago, I am a seasoned president (...) a mature president," the president said.
Falcon, a 56-year-old center-left lawyer, says Maduro's government is so unpo[CENSORED]r that he will bring together the disenchanted of Chavismo as well as those seeking to get out of the crisis. Bertucci, 49, will have the obedient vote of his religious followers.
"Is there a place for surprise? Yes, there is room (...) because there is an electoral market made up of at least 8 million voters who want political change," said political scientist Luis Salamanca.
But the main obstacle for all candidates will be to overcome discouragement and resignation.
"I've never stopped voting, but this one is different, there's a kind of discouragement, apathy," said Liliana Pérez, a 29-year-old hairdresser in Valencia. "The crisis hits us hard".