Venezuela's Maduro likely to secure third term in office: Polls
3 Min Read
Ten candidates are running for the election, with the competition limited mostly to Maduro and the opposition's Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia.
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Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro speaks after signing an agreement to respect the results of the upcoming presidential elections at the National Electoral Council headquarters in Caracas, Venezuela, Thursday, June 20, 2024. (AP)
Latest polls suggest that incumbent Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro is likely to secure a third term in office, Al Mayadeen's correspondent in Venezuela eported on Monday, as the Latin American country is set to witness its presidential election on July 28.
Ten candidates are running for the election, with the competition limited mostly to Maduro and the opposition's Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia – a former ambassador who has never held public office.
Our correspondent highlighted that the competition between election campaigns is intensifying in the eastern regions of Caracas, with the latest polls showing Maduro in the lead and likely to retain the presidency.
Al Mayadeen's Orwa Mahmoud pointed out that the Venezuelan people trust President Maduro because he belongs to the school of thought and principles of the late President Hugo Chavez and represents a symbol of continuity in the Bolivarian Revolution.
With the Venezuelan elections coming up on July 28, #AlMayadeen English will be reporting live from the #SouthAmerican nation.
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The United Nations said four of its electoral experts arrived in Venezuela Tuesday to compile a report on the voting. They will stay until several days after the election.
Maduro signed in June a document with several candidates to respect the outcome of the election.
On Sunday, he predicted that his country's economy will grow by more than 8% this year, announcing steps toward boosting Venezuela's economy.
He indicated that the current goal is to provide funding for one million new projects in the country, to be achieved between August this year and August 2025.
It is noteworthy that Maduro's 2018 reelection was rejected as "illegitimate" by most Western countries.
Last week, a Colombian paramilitary group announced in a video that Venezuela's far-right reached out to them requesting they assassinate Maduro.
The incumbent president had previously accused the United States and the Venezuelan opposition of seeking to manipulate the results of the election and destabilize the country.
The Colombian paramilitary group said Venezuela's right-wing has asked for 1,000 armed men to enter Venezuela and start a civil war.
In response, Maduro asked the Venezuelan Attorney General to investigate the released footage, describing it as a "very dangerous video."
Opposition candidate accused of being involved in El Salvador atrocities
Diosdado Cabello, the first vice-president of the United Socialist Party of Venezuela (PSUV), had said that opposition candidate Gonzalez Urrutia was involved in the financing and logistics of brutal acts in El Salvador while serving as an official at the Venezuelan embassy in that country, during the tenure of Ambassador Leopoldo Castillo.
Cabello said Urrutia's past was brought to light by a former Colombian official, Maria Catalina Restrepo Pinzon de Londono, through a letter she sent to Cabello, which he read on his TV program.
"Under the command of Castillo and the advice of González Urrutia, the infamous death squads were unleashed. The reports from those days are chilling: from massacres of innocent civilians, to the persecution and assassination of teachers and community leaders," the letter indicated.
It emphasized that Gonzalez Urrutia "was supremely committed to these atrocities, being an active part of the financing and logistics of these brutal acts."
