Venezuela's elections, scheduled for Sunday 28 July, are getting closer and closer. The main candidates are Nicolás Maduro, the current president, and Edmundo González Urrutia, candidate of the Plataforma Unitaria Democrática (PUD), also supported by the Mesa de la Unidad Democrática (MUD).
According to the survey conducted by ORC Consultores in Venezuela, Edmundo González Urrutia, the opposition candidate, has 59.6 per cent of voting intentions, while Maduro has 12.5 per cent. This represents a difference of 47.1 percentage points between the two.
One of the points investigated was the political affiliation of those surveyed. On this question, 55.2 per cent identified with the opposition, of which 31.6 per cent support the Plataforma Unitaria Democrática (PUD), 14.7 per cent do not align with any faction but would vote against Chavismo, and 8.9 per cent are opposition but do not support the PUD.
In contrast, 11.4% declared themselves pro-government, with 10.4% backing Maduro, 0.2% not supporting any party but willing to vote for a Chavista, and 0.9% being left-wing Chavista but not supporting Maduro.
Another key question in the survey addressed sentiments towards the upcoming presidential elections. In June, 69 per cent of respondents were hopeful, 66 per cent motivated, 28 per cent demotivated and 23 per cent hopeless.
Compared to March, hope increased by 8 percentage points, while hopelessness decreased from 33% to 23%.
The survey was conducted between 22 and 28 June, with a margin of error of 2.5% and a confidence level of 95%, based on telephone interviews with 1,205 people over the age of 18 registered with Venezuela's National Electoral Council (CNE), covering urban, semi-urban and rural areas of the country.
Some images in association with El Nacional.