The authoritarian president of Venezuela, Nicolas MaduroHe is expected to face strong competition from opposition candidate Edmundo González in Sunday’s presidential election.
Maduro, a socialist, is seeking a third term in office.
Ten candidates are running. Several opinion polls have placed González ahead of Maduro, who has led the South American country for 11 turbulent years.
Few observers inside or outside Venezuela expect a free and fair election when voters go to the polls.
In the run-up to election day, many opposition members were arrested and candidates who were critical of the government were not allowed to run for office.
In total, about 21.6 million people are eligible to vote, including people abroad. The elections in Venezuela are won by a simple majority in the first round.
Maduro, who won a second term in 2018 elections widely criticized as undemocratic, has suffered an economic collapse — including hyperinflation, acute shortages of goods and a drop in oil production — that has sent some 7.7 million Venezuelans fleeing abroad, according to the United Nations.
He has also cracked down on the opposition, with UN investigators accusing the government of serious human rights violations, including thousands of killings by security forces.
Maduro was first elected president in April 2013, following the death of his predecessor Hugo Chávez, under whom he had served as vice president.
But despite economic turmoil and US-backed efforts to oust him, Maduro has managed to cling to power.
