Venezuela is preparing to vote this Sunday after an electoral campaign in which the president and candidate for re-election, Nicolás Maduro, has linked peace to his victory: “There will be peace or tranquility will end“Meanwhile, the opposition is trying to mobilise every vote and is managing doubts about what might happen tomorrow.

Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado has said that “when the voting tables close at six in the afternoon,” they will “counting paper by paper”For the first time in a long time, the polls suggest that they have a chance. Chavismo could lose and they could take power.

Maduro, in power since 2013, will face on Sunday Edmundo Gonzaleza 74-year-old former diplomat who became the opposition candidate after leader María Corina Machado was disqualified and who leads the voting intention, according to traditional pollsters in the South American country.

Anna Ayuso, senior researcher at the Barcelona Centre for International Affairs (CIDOB) has pointed out to laSexta Noticias that the “fundamental point is that The opposition has been united“And that also made it possible to reach the Barbados Agreement, a pact that guarantees minimum conditions of participation for all candidates, something that had not happened for years. Ayuso has stressed that this “allows for real competition between two candidates, but in the midst of great polarization“.

Threatens a “bloodbath”

And Nicolás Maduro has made controversial statements and constant threats during the campaign: “If we do not want Venezuela to fall in blood, in a fratricidal civil warbecause of the fascists, then let us guarantee the greatest electoral success.” With these words, the Chavista has earned criticism from Colombia, Chile and Brazil.

Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva has said he was “scared” by Maduro’s statement. “Whoever loses the election gets a bath of votes, not a bath of blood”. Maduro has to learn that when you win, you stay; when you lose, you leave. You leave and prepare for another election. I hope that is what happens,” he said. Chilean President Gabriel Boric was also critical, showing his support for his Brazilian counterpart and saying that it is inconceivable that the president would threaten “bloodbaths.”

Anna Ayuso has argued that with this strategy, Madrid “wants to mobilize his electorate and instill fear: “If the opposition wins, there will be revenge.” A process that comes with complaints from Venezuelans abroad, as is the case of Juan Carlos Gutiérrez, a Venezuelan in Madrid. He has complained about “restrictions in consulates so that the right to vote is restricted.”

Juan Carlos has been living in Spain for five years and complains that he has not been able to vote, but admits that he has mixed feelings: “Frustration due to government restrictions and, at the same time, expectations due to the popular mobilization.” According to the UN, eight million Venezuelans are outside the country and just over 69,000 have voted, that is, less than 1%.