19 million voters in Venezuela begin electing president.

Polling stations in Venezuela began opening at 6:00 AM on April 14th (5:30 PM Vietnam time) to welcome nearly 19 million voters to cast their ballots to elect a successor to the late President Hugo Chavez. Acting President Nicolás Maduro and opposition representative Henrique Capriles are considered the leading candidates with a chance of winning.

This election takes place six months after President Chavez was re-elected but was unable to take the oath of office due to a recurrence of cancer, leading to his death on March 5th.

Defense Minister Diego Molero was one of the first voters.
Go to the polls (Source: VTV)

Acting President Maduro ran for election under the direction of Chávez, and during his campaign, he repeatedly pledged absolute loyalty to the late left-wing leader, promising to continue and expand the social programs for the poor implemented over the past 10 years. Furthermore, Maduro also committed to boosting infrastructure development, addressing insecurity, combating corruption, and improving government efficiency.

Meanwhile, Capriles—a lawyer from an upper-class family—proposed to provide opportunities for all, raise the minimum wage, end the practice of giving away oil to foreign countries, and reduce crime rates.

According to the results of most opinion polls conducted before the election, Acting President Maduro consistently led Capriles by at least 10% in voter support, with some polls even showing a gap of up to 20%.

The results of the vote are expected to be announced by the National Electoral Council (CNE) on the day after all voters have cast their ballots, and the vote count is irreversible.

Over 3,400 domestic observers and 240 international observers, including several former presidents and prime ministers from various countries; delegations from the Union of South American Nations (UNASUR), the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States, the Organization of American States (OAS), the Union of Inter-American Electoral Organizations (UNIORE), the African Union, the Carter Center, the European Parliament, and others, arrived in Venezuela to monitor the election.

To protect the ballot boxes, address potential election fraud, and prevent any incitement to violence, the government mobilized all police and more than 140,000 soldiers. Meanwhile, Venezuela closed its land borders for seven days.

With approximately 800 foreign media outlets registered to cover the event, the election attracted significant international attention, as it was the first post-Hugo Chavez vote in Venezuela.

According to (VNA) - DT