Bogotá, Jul 24 (EFE).- Only 7,012 Venezuelans are eligible to vote in Colombia’s presidential elections on Sunday, in a country where 2.8 million Venezuelans live, and they will do so to show their “desire for peace, reconciliation and reunion,” the opposition said Wednesday, also warning of possible “fraud.”
“We want these elections to be fluid, elections that are conducted within a democratic framework, respecting, obviously, all the guidelines of a true democratic election,” said Mauricio Baquero, political coordinator of the Vente Venezuela platform, Colombia chapter, at a press conference on Wednesday.
Baquero added: “We know that unfortunately the (Nicolás) Maduro regime can only hold on to power through fraudulent elections as you have seen and experienced in the past (…) we cannot allow a fraud that may have already been planned to be installed again in a process.”
Ten candidates will participate in Sunday’s elections, including President Nicolás Maduro and former ambassador Edmundo González Urrutia, the standard-bearer of the opposition coalition Democratic Unitary Platform (PUD) and who leads the voting intention according to traditional pollsters.
In Colombia, Venezuelans will be able to vote at consulates in Bogotá, Barranquilla, Medellín, Cartagena, Cúcuta and Riohacha, but given the low voter registration rate due to the “difficulties” in Caracas, the opposition in Colombia urged Venezuelans to travel to their country to vote next Sunday.
“We are prepared with all the equipment to defend every vote that is cast in that polling station. There are thousands of Venezuelans who will be attentive to every space, every moment, every vote because the freedom of Venezuela will be exercised and defended. The guarantee is society, the citizen power,” said Mariluz Palma, head of the campaign command of Vente Venezuela, Colombia chapter, regarding the possible fraud.
Despite the accusations, they are confident that the fraud will not be consolidated: “I do not believe that right now they can try anything with all this avalanche of citizens in the streets, I mean, the sun cannot be hidden with a finger and if there is fraud it can be proven. Venezuela has lost its fear (…) no one is going to take this route from us and we are going to defend each vote,” Palma said.
The opposition also expressed confidence that “70 or 80% of Venezuelans” would return to their country if González Urrutia wins at the polls: “It is the greatest dream of all Venezuelans.”
“I am sure that there are millions of Venezuelans who will return to Venezuela with our children, our brothers, our parents, our friends,” Palma said.
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2024-07-25 03:48:20
