Venezuela girds for uncertain election with 'bloodbath' threat

CARACAS

Uncertainty hangs over presidential elections in Venezuela on July 28, with incumbent Nicolas Maduro vowing a "bloodbath" if he loses, which polls say is likely.

Seeking a third six-year term at the helm of the economically devastated country, Maduro lags far behind challenger Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia in voter intention.

But the 61-year-old counts on a loyal electoral machinery, military leadership and state institutions in a system of political patronage and, critics say, opposition repression.

Maduro said on July 25 that he, and he alone, can "guarantee peace and stability" for Venezuela, having warned recently of a "bloodbath" if he loses to an opposition he has sought to paint as "fascists."

Analysts have told AFP violence is likely if the state apparatus intervenes in an election that the opposition is all but certain of winning.

Gonzalez Urrutia, for his part, urged Venezuelans to not let "the message of hate... intimidate you."

Gonzalez Urrutia, a 74-year-old former diplomat, is running in the place of wildly popular opposition leader Maria Corina Machado, barred from the presidential race by institutions loyal to Maduro on what she and others say are trumped-up corruption charges.

Last week, Venezuelan rights group Foro Penal reported 102 arrests this year of people linked to the opposition campaign, adding to more than 270 "political prisoners" in the country.

Rights watchdog Human Rights Watch said the United States, European Union, and influential neighbors Brazil and Colombia should use every diplomatic tool to protect the integrity of the vote.

"While the election in Venezuela will hardly be free or fair, Venezuelans have their best chance in over a decade to elect their government, and the international community should have their back as they do," said HRW Americas director Juanita Goebertus.

The government in Caracas accuses the opposition of conspiring against Maduro, whose 2018 reelection was rejected as illegitimate by most Western and Latin American countries.