This will be the next elections in Venezuela 2:42
(CNN Spanish) -
Venezuela is holding regional and municipal elections this Sunday that will once again have observers from the European Union after 15 years of absence from international missions.
More importantly, they will have the return of the opposition, which had not participated since 2018.
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According to the National Electoral Council of Venezuela (CNE), this Sunday, November 21, governors of the 23 states, 335 mayors, 253 legislators from the Legislative Councils and 2,471 municipal councilors are elected.
In total, there are 3,082 positions at stake.
This also means that 70,244 candidates from 37 national parties compete: 329 for the 23 governor's offices, 4,462 candidates for the 335 mayors and 65,453 for the legislative assemblies and municipal councils, according to the CNE.
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It is also the first time that the CNE holds regional and municipal elections on the same day, in what was the first decision of the new authorities of the body, appointed in May by the National Assembly, which remained under the control of the government of Nicolás Maduro. after the controversial elections in 2020, whose legitimacy is not recognized by the United States, the European Union and other countries in America.
The new authorities arrive in the middle of an agreement between the questioned president and the main opposition forces, which takes place in the framework of the dialogues that the two parties launched in August in Mexico.
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The Venezuelan government, however, suspended talks with the opposition in October, following the extradition to the United States of Colombian businessman Alex Saab, whom the Justice Department described as a figurehead for Maduro.
The return of the opposition to the elections in Venezuela
The last time the opposition participated in elections was in 2018.
Since then, three electoral processes have been skipped, considering that the conditions did not exist for fair, free and transparent elections to take place.
Among these is the 2020 parliamentary elections.
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For these elections, the majority opposition, gathered under the so-called Unitary Platform, announced on August 31 that it had registered candidates for 23 governorships and 335 mayors.
The voting tables will open at 6:00 AM and close at 6:00 PM, and there will be special sanitary measures due to the covid-19 pandemic.
In May, the president of the CNE, Pedro Calzadilla, also said that it was agreed to "guarantee the broadest international oversight program" in order to "guarantee the greatest possible presence."
This measure is part of a list of demands made by the opposition for several years.
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The mission of the European Union
Thus, the European Union announced in September that it would send a mission to observe these regional and municipal elections in Venezuela, at the invitation of the CNE.
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It is the first time since December 2006 that Venezuela has accepted observers from the EU.
In those elections, then-President Hugo Chávez won and was re-elected.
The high representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Josep Borrell, appointed the European parliamentarian Isabel Santos to lead the observer mission.
There will also be a United Nations panel of experts in the country, while the Carter Center will send six experts to "evaluate key aspects of the electoral process," the Atlanta-based organization said on its website.
Tensions with the United States
By participating in these elections, the EU runs the risk of colliding with the United States, its most important ally.
Venezuela: municipal and regional elections on the same day 0:27
In recent years, marked by the Venezuelan economic collapse and the opposition's challenge to the elections, the United States has supported efforts to get Maduro to leave power, coordinating sanctions and recognizing the president of the Legislative Assembly elected in 2015, Juan Guaidó.
The EU initially accompanied the United States in supporting Guaidó, but in early 2021 it abandoned its recognition of Guaidó as interim president.
How is Venezuela today?
The economic, social and political situation in Venezuela has deteriorated increasingly in the last decade, hand in hand with the fall in the price of oil, the country's main export product.
According to a study by the Andrés Bello Catholic University, in 2020 it registered 80% poverty, amid failures in the supply of water and electricity, and shortages.
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The International Monetary Fund projected for 2021 an inflation of 2,700% in Venezuela, and a fall in GDP of 5%, which would accumulate previous falls of 30% (2020), 35% (2019) and 19.6% ( 2018).
Added to the harsh economic and social conditions are the political persecutions and human rights violations denounced by Human Rights Watch and the UN, and which, together, have caused an exodus of Venezuelans, estimated to date at 5.4 million people , according to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).
Foreign Minister Jorge Arreaza rejected the accusations of alleged human rights violations and said in 2020 that the UN report was "riddled with falsehoods" and drafted "without rigor."
With information from Abel Alvarado, Osmary Hernández, Germán Padinger, Luke McGee, Stefano Pozzebon, Marlon Sorto, Alfredo Meza and Vasco Cotovio.
Elections in Venezuela
