内容摘要：Syrian opposition fighters celebrate after the Syrian government collapsed in Damascus, Syria, Sunday, Dec. 8, 2024. (AP Photo/Omar Sanadiki)

Syrian opposition fighters celebrate after the Syrian government collapsed in Damascus, Syria, Sunday, Dec. 8, 2024. (AP Photo/Omar Sanadiki)

This is a photo gallery curated by AP photo editors.CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) — As Venezuelans head to a Sunday election, they are again being used as political pawns. Opposition factions are urging abstention while the ruling party aims to tighten its grip on power — all while both sides appeal to the U.S. government for decisions that would have a greater impact on people’s lives than the vote’s results.

The election for members of the National Assembly, governors and other regional offices will be the first to allow broad voter participation since last year’s presidential contest, which President Nicolás Maduro claimed to have wonThe contest comes as the opposition’s most recognizable figure, María Corina Machado, remains in hiding to avoid arrest and most other leaders are in exile or prison due to theunleashed after the July election.

“We lost confidence in voting. On July 28, they made fun of us,” said Carmen Medina, who sells plastic jewelry in the capital, Caracas. “I’m not planning to vote.”A nationwide poll conducted between April 29 and May 4 by the Venezuela-based research firm Delphos showed that only 15.9% of voters expressed a high probability of voting Sunday. Of those, 74.2% said they would vote for the candidates of the

and its allies, while 13.8% said they would vote for contenders associated with two opposition leaders who ignored Machado’s call to boycott the elections.

Sociologist Roberto Briceño, director of the independent Laboratory of Social Sciences research group, said many Venezuelans no longer see their vote as a tool to “generate change or improve the country’s dire situation.” After July’s election, he said, people are living with a “persistent sadness about the future” as “they feel they did their part” to get someone other than Maduro elected.Rapper Kid Cudi, center, arrives at Federal Court for the trial of Sean “Diddy” Combs, in New York, Thursday, May 22, 2025. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)

Rapper Kid Cudi, center, arrives at Federal Court for the trial of Sean “Diddy” Combs, in New York, Thursday, May 22, 2025. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)Elle Fanning poses for photographers at the photo call for the film ‘Sentimental Value’ at the 78th international film festival, Cannes, southern France, Thursday, May 22, 2025. (Photo by Scott A Garfitt/Invision/AP)

Elle Fanning poses for photographers at the photo call for the film ‘Sentimental Value’ at the 78th international film festival, Cannes, southern France, Thursday, May 22, 2025. (Photo by Scott A Garfitt/Invision/AP)Workers clean a roof at the Tocumen International Airport in Panama City, Thursday, May 22, 2025, as Panama and Venezuela prepare to resume commercial flights nearly a year after suspending them when Panamanian President Jose Raul Mulino refused to recognize the re-election of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro. (AP Photo/Matias Delacroix)