Polls close in Venezuela's most crucial election in years

By Laura Gamba

BOGOTA, Colombia (AA) - Polls have closed in Venezuela, where voters cast their ballots in a presidential election that could result in a major political shift in the country.

Although Sunday's ballot includes eight candidates, the election will be a race between incumbent President Nicolas Maduro, who came to power more than a decade ago, and opposition member Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia, who polls say is leading by 40 points.

Maduro, 61, who is trying to secure a third term in office, was elected in 2013 after the death of his mentor Hugo Chavez and won again in 2018 in an election that was widely dismissed as a sham.

Retired diplomat Gonzalez Urrutia, who represents the resurgent opposition, was selected in April as a last-minute stand-in for Maria Corina Machado, who was unable to register as the opposition candidate after judicial authorities disqualified her from holding public office after she won the primaries with more than 90% of the votes.

Machado cast her vote in the capital of Caracas and in a message addressed to the almost 8 million Venezuelans who have left the country in recent years, she said that families will reunite “very soon.”

Long queues of voters were seen at 6 a.m. local time, when the vast majority of voters attended the polling stations, which closed at 6 p.m. Some 21 million of Venezuela's 30 million people are registered as voters, although it is estimated that only 17 million who remain in Venezuela could vote.

Various countries including the US, Brazil, Argentina and Chile have insisted for free elections in the South American country. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken called on parties to respect the democratic process and Brazil’s president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva also urged Maduro to respect the result of the election.

Although Maduro vowed to respect the results of the vote, he said days ago that the victory of the opposition candidate could lead to “a bloodbath” or “a fratricidal civil war.”

On Friday, Venezuela closed borders with Colombia, trapping dozens of people who were going home to cast their vote.

Venezuelans have been experiencing growing frustration over unprecedented levels of poverty, hyperinflation, food and medicine shortages, a crippling oil industry and the separating families due to migration. US-imposed economic sanctions have only deepened the crisis.​​​​​​​