Venezuelan Diaspora Return Home to Vote in Presidential Elections Amid Hopes Nicolás Maduro will be Defeated

Millions of Venezuelans abroad won’t be able to take part in the presidential elections this weekend as President Nicolás Maduro seeks a third term in the Miraflores Palace, having promised to win “by hook or by crook“.

Almost eight million Venezuelans have fled the troubled country according to the International Organisation for Migration (IOM), and it’s estimated that more than 4.5 million are eligible to vote. Yet, only 69,211 of them can participate in the upcoming elections.

A week out from the July 28 vote – where Maduro, a former bus driver, looks to extend his 12-year rule – a flight from Madrid to the Venezuelan capital, Caracas, carries passengers full of hope and determination to change the country’s authoritarian leadership.

Venezuela is deeply divided, and political and economic turmoil has resulted in social unrest and a severe humanitarian crisis, leading to one of the largest migration crises in recent history. Numerous reports have also highlighted human rights abuses.

On the flight to Caracas is Edgar Ochoa. The 22-year-old has been living in Iceland for two years, but is returning home to vote, something many Venezuelans have been denied from doing abroad due to registration barriers imposed by the Venezuelan regime in an effort to protect their rule.

Edgar woke up early on 19 July, at a hotel near Adolfo Suárez Madrid–Barajas Airport. There was no way he was missing his flight: “I would have gone crazy if I missed this flight,” he told Byline Times.

While going home to visit family, Edgar was also “returning with a mission: I’m going to vote. We have to get this guy out,” he continued, referring to 61-year-old Maduro who is running against Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia, a former diplomat and the candidate representing the opposition. 

Like many young voters in the country, Edgar will be participating in a presidential election for the first time, representing an important demographic for the political race.

Most young Venezuelans have never experienced a different governing party and have lived under their socialist ideology since 1998, when Hugo Chavez Frias was first elected president.

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Far from home, far from the ballot box

Of the hundreds of thousands who have emigrated in recent years, the NGO, Votoscopio, estimates that only 508 Venezuelans worldwide managed to register abroad between March and April, the brief window the ruling regime allowed ahead of the election.

Critics accuse the country’s main electoral body and its diplomatic services of creating unprecedented obstacles and deliberately shutting out a key demographic of voters, almost 25%, who would be expected to back the opposition.

The Maduro regime has also been accused of trying to stave off an opposition win by barring the most popular opposing candidate, Maria Corina Machado, who a few months before the election was banned from holding office for 15 years, leaving González Urrutia to run as her proxy.

But that didn’t stop Edgar – who before leaving Venezuela made pizzas after dropping out of school due to the economic crisis – from making a journey of almost 8,000kms with more than 48 hours in transit, including an overnight layover from Reykjavík to Madrid.

“This is our last hope, and we cannot waste it,” Edgar told Byline Times.

An older couple on the same flight are also travelling to vote. “I told my wife: ‘Imagine if we lost by two votes,’” says a grey-haired man while holding his wife’s hand.

This was reason enough to leave their responsibilities in Madrid and fly to Caracas where they lived most of their lives. “Venezuela needs us,” they affirm.

“This isn’t just about an election; it’s about reclaiming our rights and standing up against the systemic disenfranchisement of our people,” says another Venezuelan woman on the same flight, who declined to be named. “We will vote for those who were not allowed to”, she says with a hopeful face.

Edgar says many Venezuelans are “having a hard time abroad, but if we can (vote), we got to do it.” He paid almost £930 for his round-trip ticket, but it will all be worth it to possibly witness the transformation of a Venezuela he has never known. 

As the flight progresses over the Atlantic, conversations in the cabin inevitably turn to the country’s dire situation over the past few years. Edgar recalls how hard life was for him and his family in Venezuela, where the official minimum wage is currently 130 bolivares, or £2.88 a month. As part of the electoral campaign, Maduro announced an increase in different kinds of bonuses, for example, a food ticket for employees to support a higher monthly income for workers that could reach £112.

In 2022, Edgar’s grandmother was diagnosed with stomach cancer when almost 90% of her organs had already been consumed by the disease. He was raised by her and it almost broke him. She died in August 2022, and less than three months later, Edgar left Venezuela.

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Sacrifices and hopes

“Whenever I return to Venezuela, I do so for at least a month, usually at Christmas to share with my family,” Luna says on a video call from her apartment in the heart of the Mexican capital before her trip. This time she is coming for six days. The plans came together around April, when after trying to register to vote at the Venezuelan consulate in Mexico, “she was filled with frustration and anger” when stringent rules prevented her.

Luna’s experience is not unique. Testimonies from Venezuelans in Argentina, Spain, Italy, Chile, Germany, and Peru echo her struggle. They also exemplify the bureaucratic hurdles imposed by Maduro’s government that have hindered millions of Venezuelans from exercising their right to vote.

After days of evaluating her options and talking to her parents, who still reside in Caracas, Luna received an offer she could not refuse. “If you want to come, we’ll pay for half the ticket,” her father said.

“If I can try, I will do it because I would love to return to Venezuela,” says the 29-year-old, who despite two years in Mexico, still sees her future in her homeland.

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A a new chapter for Venezuela

July 28 is marked on Luna’s calendar and she is preparing with “too much” hope. In her mind, she has visualised what election Sunday will be like, right down to her outfit.

However, for her, it is more difficult to “imagine the government’s reaction to the results”. According to most polls, Maduro will lose against Urrutia who holds a 20% lead.

“I am not afraid of anything. I would be very angry if nothing happens, but I think I am also prepared if the results are not what we all expect.”

Luna is aware that her trip, like that of many other Venezuelans who have returned for the elections, is just the beginning of a new chapter in the country’s history, one in which she has decided to participate actively, “no matter what happens”.

In Edgar’s new home in Iceland, there is a painting connecting the maps of Venezuela and Iceland with hearts. It was a gift from his Icelandic husband, whom he married legally in the Nordic autumn of 2023.

I want to vote not just for economic change, but for a change in the way of thinking. A country where no one tells me what I have to feel. Where there is tolerance and zero discrimination towards LGBT+ communities

Edgar Ochoa

When Edgar finally lands at Maiquetía airport, his watch shows 5pm, but his tired eyes reveal that for him, it is almost 4am the next day due to the time difference.

After many questions from the immigration officer before stamping his passport at an airport he hardly recognises, Edgar waits to collect his luggage. He’s then told his bag never left Madrid.

Despite the setback, Edgar knows that returning was the right choice. Though the presents he brought for his family may be lost, his determination to be part of the change has only grown stronger.

“If more people vote, it will be harder for the government to hide the truth,” Edgar says.