Culture and gastronomy, the axes of the Migrant Fair of Venezuelans in Argentina

Culture and gastronomy will be the main themes of the Migrant Fair, a meeting point for Venezuelans in Argentina in Buenos Aires on July 28, the same day that their country of origin holds presidential elections.

According to sources from the Venezuelan diaspora in Argentina who spoke to EFE, this is an activity outside the embassy of their country in Buenos Aires, organized by the Non-Governmental Organization (NGO) Alliance for Venezuela, the Government of the City of Buenos Aires and the International Organization for Migration (IOM).

Some thirty food and craft stalls from Venezuela and other countries will be set up a few metres from the diplomatic representation, with the idea that it will be “a space for reunion for Venezuelan migrants”, with their culture and “with the hope of a prompt reunion” with their families “in a free Venezuela”.

With just a few days left before the elections in Venezuela, citizens of that nationality residing in Argentina – as they did in Spain – denounced that the embassy has not informed them about how the voting process will be.

Cipher

Of the more than 220,000 Venezuelans living in Argentina, only 2,638 were authorized to vote; however, on Tuesday they expressed their complaint about not having official information about the electoral process.

According to the Venezuelan National Electoral Council, five voting tables will be set up in Argentina, which must operate on Sunday from 6:00 a.m. local time to 6:00 p.m. local time (9:00-21:00 GMT), and will remain open if voters remain in line waiting to vote.

“It is unusual that five days before the elections they still have not confirmed whether the embassy headquarters itself will be the voting center this Sunday, as we expect. This is part of a strategy to generate misinformation and thus discourage citizen participation,” denounced activist Charbel Najm, vice president for the Southern Cone of the Venezuelan opposition party Primero Justicia (PJ).

Elisa Trotta, secretary general of the Argentine Forum for the Defense of Democracy (FADD), also indicated that on Sunday there will be a mobilization of Venezuelans all over the world, both those who were authorized to vote and those who can only accompany the protesters.

Big role

“The role of the international community will be fundamental in making the regime of (Venezuelan President Nicolás) Maduro acknowledge its defeat. This is not a common election, this is a fight between authoritarianism and democracy,” said the human rights activist.

Ten candidates are running in the election, including Maduro, who is seeking his third consecutive term, and former ambassador Edmundo González Urrutia, the candidate of the Democratic Unitary Platform (PUD) and who leads the voting intention, according to traditional pollsters.

Buenos Aires / EFE