Venezuela’s 2024 Presidential Vote: What to Know

• Why is this election important?

• Will the election be free and fair?

• Does Maduro face any serious challengers?

• What are the main issues?

• When will the results be known?

• Where can I find out more information?

Why is this election important?

The outcome of Venezuela’s presidential election, which will take place on July 28, will be consequential for the future of the country’s democracy, as well as for the more than seven million Venezuelans who have abandoned the country and have contributed to a migrant surge in the United States.

For the past 25 years Venezuela’s government has been controlled by Chavismo, the socialist movement that began with the democratic election of Hugo Chávez in 1998 and has since grown more authoritarian. When Mr. Chávez died in 2013 his protégé Nicolás Maduro narrowly won the presidency.

Venezuela’s economy imploded nearly a decade ago, prompting one of the world’s largest displacements in Latin American history. The flow of Venezuelans and other migrants to the United States has become a dominant theme in the U.S. presidential campaign.

This is the first Venezuelan election in more than a decade in which an opposition candidate has a reasonable — if slim and improbable — chance at winning.

At stake is also the future of Venezuela’s oil reserves, the world’s largest; the continued strength of the country’s alliances with China, Russia and Iran; and the trajectory of an internal humanitarian crisis that has propelled a once prosperous nation into immense suffering.