The election campaign in Venezuela has been a week full of accusations

EFE The presidential campaign for the July 28 elections completed this Thursday a first week full of massive rallies, as well as accusations of favoritism and alleged violent plans, with the candidate for reelection, Nicolás Maduro, and the opposition candidate Edmundo González Urrutia at the center of the diatribes.

A Maduro shielded by the Chavista machinery has taken over the broadcasts of the public channel Venezolana de Televisión (VTV) for at least 1,400 minutes since the campaign began until today, while none of his nine contenders has accumulated even 1% of that time on this state screen, which violates the regulations established by the National Electoral Council (CNE) for the campaign, although, so far, the electoral body has not commented on the matter.

Of those 23 hours of speeches in one week, the official candidate spent 60% on purely proselytizing acts, which has encouraged accusations of favoritism by the other candidates who hope to stop the president, in power since 2013, in his attempt to obtain a third six-year term.

The threat of violence

Without mentioning the uneven display of candidates by VTV, Maduro has used the microphones to warn regarding alleged violent plans that are being hatched to hinder the electoral process, with the main opposition coalition, the Democratic Unitary Platform (PUD), as the main accused.

These complaints have already been addressed by the Attorney General’s Office and explained by the Foreign Ministry to the diplomatic corps accredited in the country. The Chavistas, who have been in power since 1999, are calling for severe punishment for those responsible for these plans, which include – according to them – attacks once morest the president.

Elections in Venezuela with accusations

These accusations were dismissed on Wednesday by the leader of the PUD, María Corina Machado – who supports González Urrutia – who said that it was yet another “fabrication” by a government that has denounced more than a hundred conspiracies once morest it in the last 25 years.

For his part, candidate Antonio Ecarri does believe that there is a risk of increased violence, since -in his opinion- the country is on the verge of “a civil war” due to political tension, especially between the PUD and the governing party PSUV, which is why he insisted on the need to arrange a debate between the presidential candidates.

Tours and claims

The 10 presidential candidates traveled to different regions of Venezuela during the first week of the campaign, a race that puts Maduro in first place with the most visited sites, while he competes for the high attendance at his rallies with González Urrutia, the competitor with the best chance of beating him at the polls, according to pollsters.

In addition to these protests, complaints of irregularities are increasing, such as that of candidate Daniel Ceballos, who today asked the CNE to address the “violations and abuses” committed by the authorities during the campaign, recalling that campaign material was seized from him and that two of his supporters were arrested.

The number of reports of arrests, confiscations of equipment, restrictions on public roads and government censorship is increasing every day, now with the presence in the country of the United Nations panel of electoral experts who, although they will not issue a public statement, are observing the development of the campaign from the field.

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