Venezuela, electoral silence in place ahead of presidential election
*Venezuelans await July 28th presidential election
*Presidential candidates held closing campaign rallies on Thursday
*Presidential candidates held closing campaign rallies on Thursday
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00:00In this context, we go now live to our special envoy in Caracas, Yunus Soner,
00:04as the electoral silo is already in place in Venezuela.
00:08Hello, Yunus, tell us where you are and what is the latest?
00:16Hello, good afternoon from Petare in the city of Caracas, the capital of Venezuela.
00:22The process towards the presidential elections on July 28 is entering its final stage.
00:28The prohibition of campaigning has already started, so the rallies are all finished.
00:34The candidates have all held their speeches.
00:37From today on, no campaigning is permitted anymore.
00:42No public gatherings are allowed.
00:45The sale of alcoholic drinks is also prohibited.
00:49We are now in Arrocha, in one of the electoral centers here in Petare.
00:55We have eight ballots established here in this center.
00:59This is one of the 15,000 electoral centers all over the country.
01:04Today, the process of establishing the tables has been completed.
01:10And we had here testimonies and witnesses of political parties.
01:16Now we have one here.
01:17Please join me from the table of democratic unity.
01:26Representative, who has witnessed today how the ballots were established?
01:31How was the process today? What did you observe?
01:33Well, so far we have noticed a process that was carried out in the most normal way possible.
01:39There was no news about it.
01:44The voting tables were covered in the vast majority.
01:49However, as with any process, there are always tables in which the members do not completely arrive.
01:57And we have to draw lots between one and the other table to be able to cover the process
02:01of what would be the installation of the electoral tables.
02:04However, we could not conclude that in general terms the process has been quite fluid so far.
02:20All has been managed here according to the rules, according to the normal procedure.
02:25They have been here witnessing how the ballots, how the ballot boxes were established.
02:30He says there were some problems on their side with organizing the witnesses
02:36and the representatives at each ballot, but they are working on that.
02:40But he again reiterates that the establishment of the electoral center
02:46and the establishment of the mechanism of ballot boxes, their connection and so forth,
02:50has been according to rule and has been a very controlled and well-managed process.
02:57We have here another representative.
02:59What party are you from?
03:01Jesus Antonio RodrĂguez.
03:02I am from the Socialist Party of Venezuela, but I am also a member of the social movements of the municipality.
03:29How did you observe the process of the establishment of the electoral tables here?
03:32How does it work?
03:34Well, coincidentally, today there is an impressive harmony between all of us
03:42who somehow competed for the formation of the electoral tables,
03:48as it should be in the democracy that we have been giving ourselves for many years,
03:53thanks to our constitution of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela.
03:57Wait, let me translate.
03:59So, he says that, he has more to say, obviously, I will help to translate this.
04:04He says, today, among all the representatives, there was a big harmony,
04:10everyone is working together for the democracy that is working here in Venezuela
04:15since several years, thanks to the Bolivarian revolution, he says.
04:20So, he confirms that it is a day of harmony and cooperation among the different witnesses of political parties.
04:50So, he calls the citizens to follow the example of the political representatives here at the electoral center
05:12who have displayed a great harmony and cooperation,
05:15and he calls the citizens to go voting, to cast their votes, to choose whoever they want to choose,
05:23which candidate ever they want to be the president of the country,
05:27and emphasizes that this process should be done peacefully and in harmony.
05:33He emphasizes that citizens and, of course, every political movement here in the country
05:39should, once the election process is concluded, respect, of course, the results that are going to be announced by the National Election Council.
05:48So, both representatives of the political parties, one from the government, one from the opposition,
05:54they confirm first, everything is going according to procedure and law here,
05:59it's going in normal ways, it's going in harmony,
06:02both emphasize there is harmony among different political parties represented here,
06:08and things are developing quite well.
06:11Generally, in the country, this is what we can confirm from the news that we get from different parts of the country,
06:17Venezuela is preparing in peace and tranquility towards the elections on July 28th,
06:23the campaign has finished, now the last preparations are being taken,
06:28the armed forces are also present here at this election center in Arcocha,
06:32as they are in others over all the country.
06:36We know that more than 300,000 soldiers have been deployed to safeguard the security election centers,
06:44this is a normal process that takes place every time there is an election,
06:49it is called the Republican plan, so here in Petare, in Arcocha,
06:53we see harmony even between candidates that are of competing, opposing sides at this election center,
07:00they are working together to ensure a peaceful and working election process.
07:07Thank you, Yunus, it's great hearing from you and also from the people as they peacefully await for the presidentials,
07:15we'll be back to you throughout the day.