🫓 *Caracas Chronicles* | February 14, 2025 🚨 *No Consensus toward April’s “Mega Elections” | #nowwhatvenezuela* ↪️ _Share this report with your friends and family to keep them updated about events in Venezuela every week_ 📍 *_Read the full report in our website_* https://www.caracaschronicles.com/2025/02/14/no-consensus-toward-aprils-mega-elections/ 🗳️❓ *What the opposition is saying about the looming “mega elections”* Within the Venezuelan opposition, there is tension between those pushing to participate in tightly controlled and non-competitive elections—while Maduro continues to ban political activity in Venezuela—and the opposition’s limited experience in gaining ground outside electoral and international politics. María Corina Machado has called for a boycott of the so-called April 27 election, set to appoint new governors, national legislators and legislative councils. She insists that Venezuelans should only vote when the true results of the past presidential elections are recognized. She has also labeled politicians who “engage in that maneuver” as non-opposition, even though she still refers to April 27 as a milestone in the pursuit of political change. “This is a great opportunity to reaffirm our strength and relaunch an organization that exists and adapts to our reality,” Machado said in a recent interview. “That’s what we’re working on every day.” Alongside Machado and Vente Venezuela, the political parties Voluntad Popular, Primero Justicia, and Causa R are calling for abstention. On the other hand, Henrique Capriles (who remains barred from holding office) and the party Movimiento por Venezuela (MPV) were among the first to advocate for participation despite absurd conditions. Andrés Caleca, MPV’s candidate in the 2023 presidential primaries, defended the party’s stance and urged people “to confront this dictatorship in the scheduled elections and in any other.” MPV is still registered under the CNE, and was used to vote for Edmundo González on July 28. Un Nuevo Tiempo, also with an active registration, announced on Thursday that it “will not abandon the electoral roadmap” and called on other parties within the Unitary Platform to consult militants on what to do. Other groups, including Acción Democrática, are still considering whether to call for voter participation and present candidates. The Venezuelan Communist Party (PCV) told Efecto Cocuyo that it is exploring ways to “sneak in” candidates through platforms allowed by the CNE, both for the National Assembly and for governor and legislative council positions. Other dissident chavista groups that supported Enrique Márquez’s presidential bid also remain indecisive. *Why it matters:* The nomination period will take place between March 5th and 8th, and regime figures have stated that it will ban candidates linked to USAID funds and through the domestic Liberator Law. Candidates who manage to register will have to navigate a national context where campaign activists and polling station observers have been arrested and intimidated in recent months, while attempting to restore confidence in voting as an institution—at a time when the regime forces opponents to recognize any result issued by the CNE.