What to know about Venezuela’s election as Maduro faces the toughest race of his decade in power

CARACAS, Venezuela — For the first time in decades, Venezuela’s self-described socialist government is facing a serious electoral challenge in a presidential election.

President Nicolás Maduro, now in his 11th year in office, is being challenged by former diplomat Edmundo González Urrutia at the head of a resurgent opposition, as well as a field of eight other candidates. The official campaign period for the July 28 election kicked off Thursday.

Maduro, who’s presided over an economic collapse that’s seen millions of people emigrate, has fended off previous challenges by barring rivals from elections — including opposition powerhouse Maria Corina Machado — and painting them as out-of-touch elitists in league with foreign powers.

This time, he promised to let the Unitary Platform party participate in elections in a deal that brought some relief from crippling U.S. sanctions. That relief, however, was short-lived as the U.S. reimposed sanctions amid mounting government actions against the opposition.

Here’s what to know about Venezuela’s upcoming presidential election.

Who is the opposition candidate?

The most talked-about name in the race isn’t on the ballot: Maria Corina Machado, a former lawmaker, emerged as an opposition star in 2023, filling the void left when a previous generation of opposition leaders went into exile. Her principled attacks on government corruption and mismanagement rallied millions of Venezuelans to vote for her in the opposition’s October primary.

But Maduro’s government declared the primary was against the law and opened criminal investigations against some of its organizers. Since then, it has issued warrants for a number of Machado’s supporters and…