Venezuela’s presidential campaign begins under shadow of problems

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01:51

Venezuela’s presidential campaign is underway. The snap election has been delayed twice.

It’s now scheduled for May 20, but some opposition parties are boycotting it.

The poll also comes as the country is grappling with an economic crisis and a massive corruption scandal.

The campaign team of incumbent President Nicolas Maduro has released this video, which features a catchy electoral theme tune.

Venezuela's National Electoral Council (CNE) headquarters in Caracas, April 25, 2018. /VCG Photo

“We are all with Maduro” is what they sang. Venezuela’s main opposition parties, of course, disagree with that.

Maduro’s political opponents said the government, which has disqualified several candidates from standing, is not planning to hold a fair election, so they are calling for mass abstention.

But it is not a total boycott. Henri Falcon has broken with the opposition coalition, saying someone has to stand against Maduro, and he believes he can win.

“Venezuela today is suffering from its most acute humanitarian crisis of the last one hundred years,” Falcon said.

Venezuela is in the midst of a recession of wartime proportions, with triple-digit inflation. The Falcon team is proposing replacing the now near-worthless local currency with the US dollar.

President Maduro has ruled out dollarization. He instead is putting his faith in a new digital currency called the “Petro.”

Meanwhile, 16 regional governments have already announced at a summit in Peru this month that they believe the election result will not be trustworthy.

That leaves the country facing a presidential election that is proving controversial before a single vote has been cast.