CARACAS, (Reuters) – Venezuela opposition candidate Edmundo Gonzalez trusts the country’s military will ensure respect for the result of the presidential election this Sunday, he said during a press conference today.
Gonzalez, who appeared alongside opposition leader Maria Corina Machado, has attracted significant support, even from former supporters of the ruling socialist party led by President Nicolas Maduro.
But the opposition and some independent observers have questioned whether the vote will be fair, saying decisions by electoral authorities and the arrests of some opposition campaign staff are meant to create obstacles. Maduro, who has been in power since 2013 and is seeking his third six-year term, has said the country has the world’s most transparent electoral system.
“We are going to win … and we trust that our armed forces will respect the will of our people,” Gonzalez told journalists in Caracas today. “Millions of Venezuelans want change.”
Venezuela’s military has long supported Maduro and his predecessor, the late Hugo Chavez. Defense Minister General Vladimir Padrino has said the armed forces would respect the outcome of Sunday’s election.
Gonzalez inherited the opposition mantle from Machado, who enjoys wide popularity and won the opposition primary but was barred from holding public office.
Some in the opposition have expressed fears that Gonzalez could also face a ban or other restrictions, but he said he was confident of peaceful voting and a decisive victory on Sunday.
Attorney General Tarek Saab denied participating in political persecution or holding political prisoners and said in an interview with Reuters this week that the elections should be peaceful.
Maduro’s government has presided over an economic collapse, the migration of about a third of the population, and a sharp deterioration in diplomatic relations, crowned by sanctions imposed by the United States, European Union and others which have crippled an already-struggling oil industry.
“Small, medium and large national and international business leaders … know that only with us are their investments guaranteed and will yield good and great results,” Maduro said during a state television broadcast on Thursday.
Gonzalez, 74, a former diplomat, is known for his calm demeanor and his promises that change could bring home many migrants.
Machado, 56, has thrown herself into campaigning for Gonzalez, who will appear on the ballot for three parties. She urged voters to go to polling stations early and stay all day after casting their vote and also asked those with motorcycles and cars to help transport other voters whose polling stations have been moved further from their homes.
“We will ensure that what the votes and the voting records say will count,” Machado said at the press conference, adding that fear had melted away amid enthusiasm for the election.
Maduro, 61, whose face will appear on the ballot for 13 parties, says he will guarantee peace and economic growth that will make Venezuela less dependent on oil income.
He warned last week of a “bloodbath” if he were to lose, comments that drew criticism from Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva. Brazil’s electoral court and former Argentine President Alberto Fernandez both said on Wednesday they had withdrawn from acting as election observers.
Results of the vote could be published Sunday evening or in the following days. Polls will be open between 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. local time on Sunday.