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Polling stations without queues outside and with few voters inside was the common denominator in the legislative elections this Sunday, of which results are not yet known
In a trill, the opposition leader Juan Guaidó reported, at the end of the afternoon, that 82 percent of Venezuelans had rejected this process.
(In context: With inevitable Chavista triumph, Venezuela holds controversial elections)
“The fraud has been consummated and the majority rejection of the people of Venezuela has been evident. Despite censorship and communicational hegemony, the truth cannot be hidden: the majority of Venezuela turned its back on Maduro and his fraud that began months ago, ”Guaidó said later, in an address through social networks, in the one that insisted on the call to participate in the popular consultation that begins virtually this Monday and ends on Saturday 12, with a face-to-face demonstration; and assured that the National Assembly elected in 2015, which he presides, and which he calls “Legitimate”, will remain in office.
The unofficial number of participation collected by 17,000 volunteers around the country from the so-called Observatory against Fraud of the opposition National Assembly would be even lower than that of the 2005 parliamentary election, when the opposition did not participate either – in this case the opposition did not. majority -, and only 25 percent of the eligible voters voted. And it’s a far cry from the peaks of 66 percent participation in 2010 and 71 percent in 2015.
We arrived very early to try to carry out the process. Unfortunately none of the members who were selected on the page (of the CNE) have arrived
“Turnout in these elections remains to be seen, but we have noticed a great turnout. We are very optimistic with what we are seeing, ”said, however, the number two of Chavismo and candidate of the ruling party, God given hair, around 5:30 pm (local time), when announcing the start of the call “Auction operation”, half an hour before the regulatory closure of the centers.
(You may be interested in: Venezuelans in Bogotá and Madrid protest against the legislative)
From the state channel, Venezolana de Televisión, calls were made to participate. “Historically we have shown that at this time people are mobilizing more”said Cabello.
Throughout the day, however, TIME was able to demonstrate in Caracas a reality that was denounced, through social networks, from the rest of the country: the centers were desolate and the only places where there was a queue it was at public transport stops, service stations to supply gasoline and some food outlets.
I went out to vote out of conscience, I believe that the soul of democracy is voting, we do not have rifles like the Government has, so we have to go out to vote
Members of Venezuelan opposition political parties gather at the Monument of the Heroes to protest the elections being held in Venezuela to elect the new National Assembly.
Hector Fabio Zamora
Empty Caracas centers
The opening of many centers in the capital was delayed due to the fact that not even the board members attended this Sunday’s appointment. It happened, among others, in the municipal school Andres Bello, of the Chacao municipality, Miranda state, where the witnesses had to assume this role, to be able to open shortly before 7:00 am
By 11:00 am, only 450 of the 7,200 registered voters had participated in this, one of the centers that visited international observers – as described by the National Electoral Council (CNE) – of the stature of former Ecuadorian president Rafael Correa, although, according to witnesses, he did not even enter the compound.
(Read here: The result of the elections will aggravate the crisis at the borders)
Those who attended this appointment, in most of the centers visited, were mainly elderly people, such as Jose Manuel Regalado, who spoke with this newspaper when he left the La Boyera Sports Center, in the El Hatillo municipality, where National Guard officials sought to limit the work of TIME and they photographed the credentials and identity of the correspondent, which in the opinion of organizations such as Espacio Público and the Institute of Press and Society (Ipys) constituted an irregularity.
“I went out to vote out of conscience, I believe that the soul of democracy is the vote, we do not have rifles like the Government has, so you have to go out to vote”Regalado said.
Not everyone who wanted to participate, however, was able to do so. “My ex-wife could not vote because they changed her center (to another state) without her having asked for her change, to a 72-year-old woman”, He said, referring to one of the typical complaints of electoral processes in this country.
The low participation was not limited to the centers of traditionally opposed municipalities. At the Miguel Antonio Caro high school itself, in the Parque del Oeste, where the questioned president Nicolás Maduro was originally registered to vote, at 1:30 pm barely 15 percent of the 3,934 registered voters had voted.
I voted for democracy, we all have to vote (…) afterwards they cannot protest or say anything because they did not attend their voting party
Shortly before EL TIEMPO’s visit, around that time, this center was visited by other friends of the regime who acted as overseers of this election: former Colombian senator Piedad Córdoba and former Bolivian president Evo Morales.
(You may be interested in: The keys to the legislative elections in Venezuela)
The center where the greatest movement was evident was the Jesús Arocha school, in Petare, one of the largest and most dangerous neighborhoods in Latin America, once an opposition, today controlled by Chavismo. Around 1:00 pm, around 1,500 out of 7,150 registered voters had voted in this center.
Nicolás Maduro went to the voting centers this Sunday.
Carlos Becerra. Bloomberg
However, citizens who traditionally vote there, such as Nestor Rodríguez or Omaira Vásquez, acknowledged to this newspaper that there were fewer voters than in previous electoral processes.
(Read also: What can be expected of the legislative in Venezuela?)
The rejection of this process did not only occur within Venezuela. In Colombia, a group of citizens of this country stood in front of the Monument to the Heroes in Bogotá, together with representatives of the political parties, to show solidarity with the Venezuelans who “They left the centers empty amid the great fraud”.
For its part, the Foreign Ministry of Colombia issued a statement in which it ratified that they will not recognize the results of the elections, like Canada. The United States, for its part, warned that the results that the dictatorship will announce “will not reflect the will of the Venezuelan people.” Others, like Panama, regretted the conditions in which these elections were held.
ANDREÍNA ITRIAGO
CORRESPONDENT OF THE TIME
CARACAS
