Ambar Le\u00e1\u00f1ez grows quiet when she thinks of a future beyond this weekend. <\/p>\n
A staunch supporter of Venezuela\u2019s opposition movement, she\u2019s buoyant about her coalition\u2019s chances to win this Sunday\u2019s presidential election. The thought of another six years under the incumbent \u2013 Venezuela\u2019s entrenched authoritarian president Nicol\u00e1s Maduro \u2013 would drive her to flee the country, she says. <\/p>\n
Often divided among its many political parties, Venezuela\u2019s anti-government coalition has united behind a single presidential candidate, Edmundo Gonz\u00e1lez. <\/p>\n
Many experts believe that Gonz\u00e1lez could pose Maduro\u2019s toughest political challenge to date. On top of a galvanized opposition, pressure from the international community and Venezuela\u2019s oil sector have led to a series of agreements that paved the way to a competitive election this year. <\/p>\n
On Friday, members of a young opposition group in Maracay, a mid-size city in central Venezuela, took to the streets with fliers and slogans to galvanize votes for Gonz\u00e1lez. A few years ago, openly calling for Maduro\u2019s removal here could have invited trouble. <\/p>\n
But the group, called \u201cNeighbors for Venezuela,\u201d campaigned without incident. Lea\u00f1ez among them shouting anti-Maduro slogans in the city\u2019s market: \u201cUrgent, we need a new president!\u201d <\/p>\n
Another protester, Julio C\u00e9sar P\u00e9rez, described the choice looming on Sunday in stark terms: \u201cFor me, it\u2019s change or the Dari\u00e9n.\u201d <\/p>\n
Thousands of Venezuelans have already trekked through jungles and rivers in the Dari\u00e9n Gap between Colombia and Panam\u00e1 to head northward toward the United States. <\/p>\n
If Maduro remains in power, experts predict that millions more may follow. One poll conducted in June by Venezuelan firm ODH Consultores, estimates up to a third of the population is considering leaving the country after the election. <\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t want to leave!\u201d has become a popular chant among opposition supporters. <\/p>\n
Most people in Venezuela know someone who has emigrated already. Large numbers of Venezuelans now live in Colombia, Per\u00fa, and Brazil, and growing numbers have attempted relocating to the United States \u2013 part of a significant election year issue for American voters. <\/p>\n
Le\u00e1\u00f1ez\u2019s uncle, Rafael Cabrera, moved to Miami in 2021. On a videocall to his niece in Maracay, he expressed anger that he would not be able to vote on Sunday \u2013 Venezuelans living abroad are not allowed to vote by mail, and Venezuela doesn\u2019t have consular representation in the US, which means there are no paths to the vote for Cabrera. <\/p>\n
To join him one day, Le\u00e1\u00f1ez said she would consider migrating as an undocumented migrant. \u201cI would wish to migrate as legally as possible, but it\u2019s is one of the cards in my hand. An option\u2026 What else could I do?\u201d she said. <\/p>\n
On the campaign trail, both Venezuela\u2019s current government and the opposition are urging Venezuelans abroad to return. <\/p>\n
Since 2018, a government-sponsored \u201cReturn to the Homeland\u201d program organized free flights for more than 10.000 Venezuelan migrants who wished to come back from other Latin American countries. <\/p>\n
\u201cWe have gone through a bad stretch, really bad, but we\u2019re getting better, we\u2019re improving\u2026 to all Venezuelans abroad [\u2026] come home!\u201d Maduro said last month. <\/p>\n
It\u2019s an issue that has touched the top leaders of the opposition movement personally \u2013 though they have chosen to stay and fight, in a battle for Venezuela\u2019s future that will be decided on Sunday. <\/p>\n
Opposition leader Mar\u00eda Corina Machado, who has campaigned alongside Gonz\u00e1lez after being barred from running as a candidate, has endured a familiar separation, with her three adult children and their families all living abroad. <\/p>\n<\/p>\n
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