Politics
Election Results Are Being Disputed in Venezuela. What It Could Mean for the US and Chicago
Protests erupted in Venezuela over the results of the country’s latest presidential election.
Current president Nicolas Maduro declared victory — but his opposition is raising concerns over the accuracy of those results.
The country has seen millions of residents flee to other countries — including the United States — after years of economic instability and political unrest.
What’s the Latest?
Venezuela’s opposition party leader, Maria Corina Machado, and the party’s candidate, Edmundo Gonzalez, said they have gathered a majority of the tally sheets printed from voting machines, which prove their victory. They are continuing to call for election transparency from the Maduro government.
Maduro announced Wednesday that he’s asked the country’s highest court to conduct an audit, leading to sharp criticism that the court would not be able to conduct an independent review. Other Latin American countries are continuing to urge Maduro to release precinct-by-precinct voting data to allow the process to be verified by outside parties.
Ana Gil-Garcia is the co-founder of the Illinois Venezuelan Alliance. She came to the U.S. about 30 years ago and said the controversy is not surprising.
“That behavior, you know, that’s a pattern really, for many, many, many other elections before,” she said. “But we still keep the hope that that’s true, and we keep going to the polls, you know, just to vote. So I do believe that the international pressure that has been, it could help.”
On Thursday evening, the U.S. recognized Gonzalez as the winner.
What’s Happening on the Ground?
While Maduro celebrates victory, opposition supporters are marching through the streets to contest Maduro’s victory. The government has deployed the police and national guard to control the protests.
At least 11 people have been killed, according to the non-governmental Venezuelan organization Foro Penal.
Martin Albert, who works on humanitarian aid logistics for the organization Panas en Chicago, was a member of the resistance forces in Venezuela before coming to the U.S. in 2017. He said people are fighting back because they know they deserve better.
“We were facing death every day we were in the protests,” Albert said. “We don’t know (if we’ll) be able to go back home with our loved ones because it’s like a rolling dice. It’s sometimes you get caught with the police or the Guardia Nacional or sometimes you get a bullet.”
He added that for many Venezuelans, it’s hard to keep hope.
“It’s kind of like a sad feeling because you are, like, hoping that this time of the election, you could finally get to the end of this nightmare,” Albert said. “But that’s the way it is.”
How Does This Impact the United States and Chicago?
Millions of Venezuelans have fled the country, with about 30,000 making their way to Chicago. They are fleeing after years of economic instability and political oppression that has led to half of the Venezuelan population living in poverty. The U.S. is anticipating the arrival of more Venezuelan migrants as this continues.
Juan Gonzalez is a senior fellow at the Great Cities Institute at the University of Illinois Chicago. He said that the American government can play a role in what happens in Venezuela.
“There’s a history in Latin America of the United States pressuring governments when it doesn’t like the result,” Gonzalez said. “I think, therefore, the United States government should definitely press the Venezuelan government to release the results, but not to increase the blockade and the sanctions that only ended up hurting more of the Venezuelan people.”
