Maduro faces stiff challenge as Venezuela goes to the polls

Venezuela's authoritarian president, Nicolás Maduro, is expected to face a strong challenge from opposition candidate Edmundo González in Sunday's presidential election.

Maduro, a Socialist, is seeking a third term in office.

Ten candidates are running. Several opinion polls have placed González ahead of Maduro, who has been in charge of the South American country for 11 turbulent years.

But few observers inside or outside Venezuela expect a free and fair election when voters go to the polls.

In the run up to election day, numerous members of the opposition were detained and candidates critical of the government were not allowed to run.

A total of around 21.6 million people are eligible to vote, including those abroad. Venezuela's elections are won by a simple majority in the first round.

Maduro, who won a second term in 2018 elections widely criticized as undemocratic, has presided over an economic meltdown - including hyperinflation, acute goods shortages and a plunge in oil production - which has driven about 7.7 million Venezuelans to flee abroad, according to the United Nations.

He has also cracked down on the opposition, with UN investigators accusing the government of grave human rights violations, including thousands of killings by security forces.

Maduro was first elected president in April 2013 after the death of his predecessor Hugo Chávez, under whom he had served as vice president.

But, despite the economic turmoil and US-backed attempts to oust him, Maduro has been able to cling to power.