Venezuela is holding its most decisive elections of the past 25 years this Sunday. Never has Chavismo been so close to losing powerso Venezuelans are living this day between nerves and hope. The president of Venezuela and candidate for reelection, Nicolás Maduro, has been in office for 11 years and hopes to extend the Chavista legacy for another six years.

Therefore, citizens will choose between the continuity of Chavismo after 25 years or a vote to make a political change, which this time they do see as possible. Maduro has already assured that he will respect the people’s choice: “Venezuela has laws and we are all obliged to comply with them.”

In the opposition, for the opposition coalition Democratic Unitary Platform (PUD), is Edmundo González, who aspires to achieve change And everything points to the fact that he could achieve it. So, crowded at the doors of the polling stations, they flock to vote because for Venezuelans these are crucial elections. So much so that the tension between voters has left images of confrontation, something common after a very polarized campaign.

The emotion is so intense that even during the night They have formed long lines of people waiting to vote“Let the best man win, that’s all. There is no expectation, the expectation is that you have to go and vote,” says a Venezuelan woman. The feeling is that whatever happens in the future, they have voted.

More than 21 million Venezuelans are called to the polls and the population has spent the night in suspense. Maduro’s supporters sing and dance to call for the vote before dawn: “Grandfather, grandmother, youth, peasant, fisherman, go vote. Come out in the name of your country“.

Meanwhile, they have a long electoral day ahead of them that will decide who will be the next tenant of the Miraflores Palace.