7xm Venezuela Is Ready for Change. Maduro Must Allow It.
Venezuelans are putting everything on the line in Sunday’s election. Faced with President Nicolás Maduro’s intention to entrench himself in power for six more years, the democratic movement has steadily built a pathway for profound change around Edmundo González, our presidential candidate.
My compatriots are fed up with all the hatred, coercion, corruption and misery brought on by 25 years of tyranny and destructive economic policies under Mr. Maduro and his predecessor and mentor, Hugo Chávez. These are the reasons that roughly a quarter of our population has emigrated across the world, including hundreds of thousands to the United States.
An overwhelming majority of Venezuelans are ready for change. This sentiment is palpable throughout the country. Despite electricity and fuel shortages and relentless harassment from the Maduro regime, huge numbers of people are participating in our campaign events. Just a year ago, Venezuelans felt hopeless, migration through the Darién Gap began surging, and the opposition was leaderless.
Credible pollsters confirm our imminent victory. Even the most conservative estimates suggest that the opposition’s support is twice the incumbent’s. At least one poll indicates a margin of 47 percentage points.
The regime has made this election neither free nor fair nor truly competitive. Mr. Maduro has no viable way to win it honestly. He relies on sham elections that can be accepted as faits accomplis in and, in some cases, beyond Venezuela. While he may try to manipulate reality even past the election, his days in power are numbered.
We have organized the biggest citizen electoral observation network known so far in the country. Mr. Maduro will be defeated, and he must accept the Venezuelan people’s will.
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