Maduro ‘closes’ country to opposition guests in Venezuela ahead of tense election

President Nicolás Maduro is running against his Democratic Unity Platform (PUD) in Sunday’s elections. Edmundo Gonzalez UrrutiaBacked by President María Corina Machado, the election raises many doubts about its transparency, but has hope for opponents seeking to oust Maduro, who has been in power for 11 years.

News of celebrities going to Venezuela multiplied on social networks. A Copa Airlines flight, for example, was prevented from taking off from Panama, according to a former Colombian vice president. Marta Lucia Ramirez in the capital of Panama.

“We have clearly stated that we were or were We wanted to come to Venezuela as guests of Edmundo (Gonzalez Urrutia) and María Corina. It was a companion, (…) not as witnesses, because we are not going to have the possibility to register before the National Electoral Council (Venezuela)” announced Ramírez.

The former Colombian vice president made his statements at a press conference at the presidential palace with former presidents. Mireya Moscoso from Panama, Miguel Angel Rodríguez from Costa Rica, Jorge Quiroga from Bolivia and Vicente Fox from Mexico. A few hours after getting off the Copa Airlines flight.

Fox said on his X account that he continues to support the Venezuelan opposition despite being unable to enter the country.

According to the Government of Panama, The Venezuelan government “blocked the airspace” and blocked the flight. “Detained flights” from the country’s and Copa Airlines, including those carried by former presidents, “for several hours”, after “unrelated political issues” and the “unanimous” decision of the Venezuelan administration.

These leaders are part of the group Initiative for Democracy in Spain and the United States (IDEA) And they went to the polls this Sunday, endorsing the candidacy of PUD standard bearer Edmundo González Urrutia.

“We strongly condemn this fact because, we reiterate, “If there’s one thing Democrats want in our country, it’s to have a clean, pure, transparent voting process that we can all be proud of.” Opposition member Telsa Solorzano told a press conference.

Venezuela also blocked the entry of a group of parliamentarians from the Spanish Popular Party (PP). He was invited by the opposition to be present during Sunday’s polls. A delegation of PP representatives, MEPs and senators, led by MEP Esteban González Pons and PP spokesman in Congress Miguel Tellado, traveled to Venezuela to observe the elections.

Alejandro Bongiovanni, the Argentine deputy of PRO (the party founded by Mauricio Macri), said they deported him and flew him to Panama.

Colombian Senator Angelica Lozano And this Former Bogotá Mayor Claudia Lopez DThey announced on Friday They were deported from Venezuela. The passport was taken for an hour and a half to the country where they arrived to meet opposition leader María Corina Machado. “Without arguments or information.”

“They are taking us for no reason to this miserable country (…),” Lozano said in a video recorded as he was taken away at Migedia International Airport in Caracas.

The Chilean government sent a note of protest to the Venezuelan government, preventing people from entering the country. Senators Felipe Caste (center-right) and José Manuel Rojo Edwards (far-right), Venezuela was called by the opposition.

“The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has summoned Arevalo Mendez, the Venezuelan ambassador to Chile, as Senators Jose Manuel Rojo Edwards and Felipe Caste were denied entry into the country,” the Foreign Ministry said.

Kast, who belongs to the Evopoli party, said on his social media that they would be deported because they did not meet the “profile or conditions for entry into the country”.

EFE reported that 5,200 Venezuelans traveled from Colombia to their country between July 20 and 27, the week before the presidential election.

The Venezuelan government has announced that Land borders will be closed from Friday for Sunday polls. One left behind a desert environment on the Colombian-Venezuelan border The closure caught hundreds of people by surprise.

In Colombia, there are More than 2.8 million Venezuelan residents, Due to registration difficulties at embassies, only 7,012 people were registered to vote on Sunday.

The opposition from Bogotá called on those who have the opportunity to exercise their right to vote in the neighboring country, as it is impossible for millions of Venezuelans in Colombia to vote.