Venezuela was divided into two this Sunday with regional and legislative elections marked by abstention, tension and speeches faced. While the Government of Nicolás Maduro celebrated a “great victory” in elections whose participation has not been officially published, the opposition leader María Corina Machado said that “more than 85 % of Venezuelans disobeyed” the call to the polls and claimed to the military that “open step to the transition, in order and safely.”
More than 21.4 million people were summoned to choose 569 charges, including 285 deputies to the National Assembly, 24 governors – including that of Esequibo, territory in dispute with Guyana – and 260 regional legislators. However, press and observation reports in the field showed virtually empty voting centers in cities such as Caracas, Maracaibo and Sifontes, with an environment very different from that of previous elections.
Machado: “They have the obligation to act”
María Corina Machado, former deputy and current reference of the Antichavista opposition, described the day as an “electoral farce” with which, he said, Chavismo tried to “erase the truth of July 28”, date on which the democratic unit platform (Pud) argues that Edmundo González Urrutia won, despite the fact that the National Electoral Council proclaimed Maduro.
“Today more than 85 % of Venezuelans disobey this regime and said no,” Machado said in a video broadcast on X, where he also denounced the recent arrest of “more than 60 brave citizens, including young people, women, elders and human rights activists,” including former deputy Juan Pablo Guanipa, his “fighting brother”, accused of the Chavismo of trying to boycott the elections.
In a direct tone, Machado asked the Bolivarian National Armed Forces (FANB) to “fulfill its constitutional duty” and “be guarantor of popular sovereignty.” “It is time to act. They have the obligation to do so. The nation no longer tolerates the inaction or indifference that becomes complicity,” he said, addressing the military as “witnesses of the citizen mandate of July 28”.
The opponent considers that this day represents the fourth “victory” of Antichavism in less than a year, after the primary of October 2023, the “overwhelming choice” of González Urrutia, the so -called ‘Operation Guacamaya’ – which allowed the exit of the country of five opponents of refugees in the Argentine embassy – and now, he says, a “conscious and brave” disobedience against the empty urns.
“The regime believed that at the tip of threats I was going to force people to vote, but that only caused more anger,” he said. He even added, “public employees abstained.” “We gave them another sovereign ‘pela’ (beating). We show them that they are empty of power,” he said.
Chavismo proclaims a “great victory”
From the official ranks, the president of Parliament and Campaign Head of Chavismo, Jorge Rodríguez, said that “today he triumphed, with an indeclinable force, Venezuelan democracy” and said that the country has given “a lesson to the entire world.” The National Electoral Council, controlled by Figures related to the Government, extended the voting schedule for an hour beyond 18.00 (local time), alleging an alleged high participation that was not corroborated by independent means.
“Today all Venezuela has defeated fascism throughout the line,” said Rodríguez, who made fun of the calls to abstention: “They did it stupidly.” Although he did not offer concrete figures, he said that “what is in sight does not need glasses,” insisting that Chavismo had defeated “with the force of the vote.”
In parallel, in several areas of Caracas there were caravans of supporters of the United Socialist Party of Venezuela (PSUV), while police officers reinforced security at key points. Some voters interviewed by EFE, mostly older people, highlighted the speed of the process and the importance of exercising their right, although many admitted to having found their “very alone” centers.
The vote, completely automated and with Captahuellas technology, passed peacefully, but without the enthusiasm of previous processes. Neither the delay in the closure of the schools nor the triumphalist speeches of Chavismo hid the obvious: the country voted silently, and silence is also a message.
