Voting station members and opposition witnesses reported irregularities in the process of installing the polling centers -including not being allowed entry- in centers in different municipalities throughout the country. Nevertheless, the opposition said that incidents were registered in less than 1% of the polling stations installed today.
The government is manufacturing an “electoral chaos” to discredit the opposition, cracking down on dissidents and creating obstacles and counter-incentives for voters in remote areas
🫓 Voting station members and opposition witnesses reported irregularities in the process of installing the polling centers -including not being allowed entry- in centers in different municipalities of Amazonas, Aragua, Carabobo, Caracas, Zulia, Lara, Anzoátegui and Barinas.
There are also reports in centers in Trujillo, Táchira, Sucre, Nueva Esparta and Apure. Nevertheless, Delsa Solórzano -the opposition’s “chief witness” at the CNE- said that incidents were registered in less than 1% of the polling stations installed today. “They were reported in real time. That’s good news: it means our witnesses are at every voting center, doing their job”, she said.
The Venezuelan economy –growing at single digit rates after a decade-long massive contraction– continues to suffer structural constraints that not even regime change can lift in the short term
🫓 Edmundo González Urrutia, María Corina Machado and the Unitary Platform signed “The Spirit of July 28”, an agreement for a government of “democratic transformation” based on seven principles: freedom, unity, consensus, civility, rule of law, reunification and sense of urgency. pic.twitter.com/Sxf5KoqaLY
The campaign is officially over. Chavismo did its final act in Avenida Bolívar in west Caracas while the opposition organized its own rally in the Main Avenue of Las Mercedes, in east Caracas.
🫓🇨🇱 Chilean President Gabriel Boric: “The important thing is that we act in consensus with the international community. I have no doubt that with Brazil, Colombia and Mexico we will have the same position of demanding respect for popular sovereignty [in Venezuela’s elections].”
“Reforestation could be one way the country could attract financing for the energy transition through carbon offset projects for the voluntary carbon market. This could provide an alternative way of life for those involved in the rampant illegal mining taking place in Venezuela’s Amazon.
Such efforts could also be incentivized through debt-for-nature swaps as part of a comprehensive debt restructuring.”, Luisa Palacios writes in Americas Quarterly.
🫓 The Maduro government has crippled the opposition’s attempt of bringing international observers. It didn’t allow a Copa flight with former Latin American presidents and has retained Spanish and Colombian lawmakers at the airport near Caracas.
After a quarter on a century of rule, the party that snatched the Venezuelan State faces an existential crossroads without the only man capable of imposing discipline over contrasting opinions and interests
Lula, Petro, the Americans, and many Latin American countries have high stakes on the Sunday vote. To varying degrees, the election is happening thanks to their efforts.