Machado, the outsider hoping for an electoral tilt at Maduro

The last time Venezuelans went to the polls, in 2018, the political opposition to Nicolás Maduro, the president, deemed the election so farcical it walked away from the contest. Since then, a fractured opposition has largely resigned itself to watching helplessly as Hugo Chávez's successor tightened his grip on power and the country fell ever deeper into chaos.

- Luke Taylor

About 7.3 million people have fled insecurity, poverty and persecution since 2014, and another 2,000 Venezuelans are risking their lives every day to cross the jungles of the Darién Gap.

Now the opposition is back campaigning. Maduro has promised to hold fair elections in 2024 and there is growing hope the opposition's frontrunner, María Corina Machado, might beat him at the ballot box.

The only snag is Venezuela's controller general has barred her from holding office for 15 years for allegedly supporting economic sanctions on the country. "I think the regime knows, and it's clear to everyone, that I will beat Maduro by a landslide," Machado said in an interview with the Guardian before her victory in last Sunday's opposition primary. "That's precisely why they are acting desperately and committed this huge mistake. It's going to backfire."

Machado has been seen as an extreme figure in the opposition due to her calls for foreign military intervention and her fierce opposition to participation in undemocratic elections. Despite such outspoken views, she has quickly become the favourite to take on Maduro.