On Sunday, Venezuelans in South Florida and in the Latin American country took to the polls to vote in their presidential election. But opposition leaders have been pushing Venezuelans not to vote. They are calling the elections unfair and certain to be rigged in favor of incumbent President Nicolas Maduro.
Many Venezuelans in South Florida are boycotting the election in their country and it’s fueled by a distrust of the nation’s electoral council. Key opposition leaders in Venezuela were also barred from running.
“We’re just reinforcing that what’s happening today inside in and outside Venezuela is a fraud,” said Beatriz Olavarria, a Venezuelan activist.
President Nicolas Maduro is seeking another six-year term despite a severe crisis that’s made food scarce and inflation soar. Although elections are usually held in the fall, the government pushed up this year’s vote, giving the opposition less time to campaign.
“It’s not a valid election because it was proposed by the constituent assembly, it’s an assembly that did not go through the legal process,” said Maria Eugenia Pardo, a Venezuelan journalist.
Maduro’s main challenger is Henri Falcon, a former governor and one-time supporter of Hugo Chavez. Also on the ballot is TV evangelist Javier Bertucci, who has been giving out free soup at rallies.
Published reports show the U.S. Deputy Secretary of State saying the United States will not recognize the result of Venezuela’s presidential election. After casting his vote on Sunday, Maduro accused the U.S. of sabotaging the election.
Local
Maduro says there’s been an aggressive campaign on behalf of the government of Donald Trump to try and taint the election.
“There’s a lot of people dying in Venezuela, and we need the international community to act strongly,” said Ramon Muchacho, the former mayor of Chacao.
