by Eduardo Vasco, Strategic Culture:

Ten candidates, supported by 38 parties, are participating in this year’s presidential elections in Venezuela. There is a consensus, however, that the dispute centers on just two: President Nicolás Maduro and the main opposition bloc, the Democratic Unity Platform (PUD), whose candidate is Edmundo González Urrutia.

All voting intention polls place these two candidates at the head of the race. But the radical opposition, grouped in the PUD, and the international press, only take into account the polls that indicate González Urrutia’s victory.

Some examples are the Delphos institute, which states that the opponent has 59.1% of voting intentions, against 24.6% for Maduro; Consultores 21, which gives between 55% and 60% preference for Urrutia and 25% to 28% for Maduro; Hercon Consultores, which suggests that 68.4% will vote for Urrutia and only 27.3% will vote for Maduro; and ORC Consultores, which indicates support from 59.6% of voters for Urrutia and just 12.5% for Maduro.