135 opposition members arrested and observers prevented from attending the vote

Nicolas Maduro is seeking a third term against former ambassador Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia.

The atmosphere is tense in Venezuela as the presidential election approaches. One hundred and thirty-five people have been arrested since the beginning of the year as part of the opposition campaign, the human rights NGO Foro Penal reported on Friday, July 26, stressing that 47 are still currently in detention. “From January to today, there have been 149 arbitrary arrests for political reasons (…) and 135 are directly linked to what was the national tour and the campaign” of the opposition, its director, Gonzalo Himiob, told AFP.

Some 21 million of Venezuela’s 30 million people are called to the polls on Sunday. The vote pits Nicolas Maduro, 61, who is seeking a third term, against former ambassador Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia, 74, who replaced at short notice the leader of the opposition, Maria Corina Machado, declared ineligible for the presidential election. Both sides say they are confident they will win the election.

The opposition has been denouncing for weeks a “political persecution” power, with arrests as well as administrative closures and fines imposed on merchants, hotels or restaurants that work with the opposition. In addition to the arrests, six collaborators of Maria Corina Machado took refuge in March at the residence of the Argentine ambassador, after being accused of conspiracy.

Venezuelan authorities also blocked a Copa Airlines flight from Panama carrying a group of former Latin American presidents who were supposed to be observers of Sunday’s election. Speaking of“a blockade of Venezuelan airspace”Panamanian President Jose Raul Mulino accused Caracas of preventing the plane from taking off from Tocumen airport.