'Our last chance': Venezuelan youth weigh leaving after election result

Anti-Maduro protests spread as Venezuelan opposition says he stole vote, in Caracas

Demonstrators gather to protest election results that awarded Venezuela's President Nicolas Maduro with a third term, in Caracas, Venezuela July 30, 2024. REUTERS/Leonardo Fernandez Viloria

Recent university graduate Jorge Salcedo says his whole life - his family, his career, his "everything" - is in Venezuela.

But after Sunday's contested presidential election, the 23-year-old says his future may be elsewhere.

The vote "was our last chance," Salcedo said the following day, tears streaming down his face.

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"It feels like I no longer have anything to do here in Venezuela."

Venezuela's national electoral authority declared President Nicolas Maduro the winner of a third six-year term, sparking protests and widespread allegations of fraud.

Already, more than seven million people have left Venezuela since 2014, according to the United Nations, due to a severe economic and political crisis triggered by falling oil prices, corruption and government mismanagement.

Salcedo now sees himself joining their ranks if Maduro takes office for a third term.

"I don't know if this regime is going to continue in Venezuela, but I am sure that if it continues, millions of young people are going to leave the country just like me," he said.

Independent pollsters called Maduro's victory implausible, and opposition leaders and foreign observers urged the electoral authority to release vote tallies.

Salcedo believes there was electoral fraud. On Sunday, he stayed at his polling place late in an effort to "not let the presidential election be stolen," but soon witnessed fights between supporters of Maduro and the opposition.

The young man cries thinking about having to leave his family for a life abroad.

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