MARACAIBO –  The journey from the Venezuelan capital of Caracas to the coastal city of Maracaibo should only take about nine hours. For Maria Corina Machado, however, it took closer to 12.

Machado, a popular opposition leader, had hit the road in the final days of Venezuela’s presidential race to campaign on behalf of Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia, the candidate hoping to unseat President Nicolas Maduro. But as she travelled between cities, Machado noticed government forces had blocked the roads. Gas stations were mysteriously closed along her route.

Machado has grown accustomed to such obstacles, though. As she explained at a news conference at her party headquarters in Maracaibo on July 24, she sees the obstructions as the last gasp of an authoritarian government struggling to maintain its grip on power. “This is a confession from a regime that knows it is defeated,” Machado said, as she cited yet another example: efforts to deny accreditation to citizens wishing to act as poll monitors.

“But just like we have overcome all these obstacles, we’re also going to overcome this one.”  On Sunday, Venezuelans head to the polls to vote for the presidency. But Maduro, the socialist president who has been in power since 2013, has struggled in the polls, trailing Gonzalez by wide margins. An opposition victory could bring nearly a quarter century of socialist rule to a close. Opposition leaders like Machado, however, warn that Maduro will not leave office without a fight. They anticipate the Maduro government will continue to sabotage their efforts — even if it means subverting democracy at the ballot box. (Al Jazeera)…[+]