Venezuelans in the diaspora are not allowed to vote from abroad. “It’s weird that I have to take a plane.”

This could be the most important election in Venezuela in 25 years: For the first time since socialist Hugo Chavez took office, the opposition has a chance to win. The election is also exciting for millions of Venezuelans who have fled their country in recent years. Many of them hope for change so they can return. But voting abroad has been made impossible for them by President Nicolás Maduro, who hopes to stay in power.

The Latin American country, led by Maduro since 2013, has been in the grip of a major political and economic crisis in recent years. It has suffered from high inflation and extreme poverty. This, combined with severe political repression, has led eight million Venezuelans to flee their country since 2015.

Spain is home to more than half a million political refugees, most of them journalists and activists from wealthy families. In Madrid, some have settled in the wealthy Salamanca district. They have restaurants that serve you. Arebas – A type of pita bread made from corn flour – and dance schools where they introduce Spaniards to Venezuelan dance rhythms.

Journalist Gisette Rosas, 35, fled to Spain in 2015 and now lives in Barcelona. Critics of the government, including journalists, have been arrested en masse. “I worked with a group of five journalists, three of whom were arrested in 2014, during nationwide protests against the Maduro government’s economic policies.”

riot police

The protests were violently suppressed by riot police. Dozens were killed and thousands of protesters were arrested. “People who demanded basic rights were killed or disappeared behind bars. Journalists who reported it faithfully, too. It made me nervous and that was a reason to flee,” says Rosas.

Alejandro Catalan, 30, came to Madrid in 2019 after studying in the United States. “I could go to Spain after my studies or I had to go back to Venezuela. The latter was not an option, because the political situation did not allow for a normal life there,” he says. “There were a lot of people kidnapped, if your phone was stolen you could be killed. Everyone did what they wanted, it was chaos. Caracas was the most violent city in the world at the time.” Added to the economic misery, the choice was quickly made for the 25-year-old Catalan. “When I left, the minimum wage was about $3 a month. A lot of people couldn’t afford to eat.”

Rosas and the Catalans are watching the elections with concern and frustration, because they fear they will not be fair. Only 69,000 Venezuelans in the diaspora were able to register to vote, 25,000 of whom live in Spain. “It’s a strategy they’ve always used. The Venezuelans who fled are the ones who oppose the regime and the dictatorship,” Rosas said. Rosas was unable to register.

Catalan also made an attempt. “I stood in line for five hours at the consulate in Madrid with other citizens. It was hopeless. The consulate staff only allow about thirty people a day,” he says angrily.

It is of course unreasonable that I should have to take a plane across the ocean just to be able to vote.

But two days before the election, Alejandro Catalan had a little hope. He entered a contest run by a Venezuelan influencer, giving away plane tickets to Caracas among his followers to vote in the Venezuelan capital. Catalan wins.

8 hours flight

After an eight-hour flight, he arrives in Caracas the day before the election, where he spends the night at his parents’ house in the El Hatillo neighborhood. Catalan drives with his neighbor Luisa to his old school on Sunday mornings, which serves as a polling station during the elections. “Of course it’s absurd that I have to take a plane across the ocean just to vote,” he says, looking for his name on a list on the school wall. “But that’s the reality for us Venezuelans abroad.” Then he joins a line of people.

Long lines are forming everywhere in Caracas at polling stations that have been open since 6 a.m. “It’s only now that I’m standing here that I realize I have the opportunity to vote. Many of my friends in Madrid can’t do it,” he says in an emotional voice. He enters the school. When the Catalan comes out half an hour later, he points with his thumb marked with a vote in black ink, feeling relieved and proud. “Let’s hope for a good result. So far, the atmosphere is calm. If the opposition wins and Maduro concedes, it will be a big party.”

“I see myself returning to Venezuela one day, that is my dream,” says Alejandro Catalán with conviction. “After the political change, I see it as the duty of all Venezuelans to return and rebuild the country. Venezuela must rise from its ashes.”

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