Venezuela election: Maduro ‘ready for battle’ as voters vow to flee if he wins

His country is plagued by hyperinflation, chronic shortages of food and medicine, soaring murder rates and one of the most severe migration crises in recent Latin American history.

But on Sunday, the Venezuelan president, Nicolás Maduro, is hoping voters will hand him a renewed six-year mandate to lead a once-wealthy South American country that experts and foes say he has helped to destroy.

“I’m ready for the battle, ready to make history,” the 55-year-old politician bellowed at his final campaign rally in Caracas on Thursday, where he was flanked by the Argentinian football star Diego Maradona and wore a pickle-coloured shirt emblazoned with the image of Hugo Chávez.

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