President Nicolás Maduro promised this week that he would provide “a reward” for those who “exercise their sovereign right and go to vote freely” in Venezuela’s presidential elections on 20 May. Maduro did not reveal what this reward would be but he did say voters would receive it on the ‘Carnet de la Patria’, the identity card needed to receive food parcels, pensions, bonuses – and to vote. This naked coercion and bribery underscores why the elections have been widely denounced as illegitimate, spurring the secretary general of the Organization of American States (OAS), Luis Almagro, to go further than ever this week in the forthright criticism of the Maduro administration which has characterised his tenure.End of preview - This article contains approximately 644 words.
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