Content creator and Miami resident Oswaldo Graziani usually co-hosts a podcast that explains American politics to Venezuelans called Pueblo People.
But following the disputed presidential election in Venezuela, he’s turned his attention to his native country’s political and economic crisis and drawn thousands of viewers to his YouTube channel with his co-host Raúl Stolk.
“The Venezuelan diaspora in the U.S. and around the world is extremely united about what’s going on in the country,” Graziani said.
Venezuela’s National Election Council declared President Nicolás Maduro the victor in the July 28 presidential election but have yet to produce voting tallies to prove he won 51-44%. The opposition claims to have tally sheets showing it won.
An Associated Press analysis Friday of vote tally sheets released by the opposition coalition indicates that their candidate, Edmundo González, won significantly more votes than the government claimed, casting serious doubt on the official declaration that Maduro won.
READ MORE: Is there any way out of Venezuela’s electoral fraud crisis?
Graziani was born in Caracas and immigrated to Miami 10 years ago. He’s a self-proclaimed “politics junkie” and has been producing political satire content for almost two decades.
Graziani said he’s frustrated by the deceitful behavior, but it’s not his first time seeing unfair elections in Venezuela.
“Before it was … more like the psychological warfare that they [used to] make people vote for them,” Graziani said. “This time, not even that was enough.”
Amidst the turmoil, Graziani sees his role as to inform Venezuelans — living in the country and abroad.
“There’s a lot of censorship,” he said. “So anything that can be …reliable information that we have the privilege outside to watch and see and discuss, is something that is very valuable for people inside Venezuela.”
Graziani is hopeful Maduro can be removed from power and that democracy returns to his homeland. He cited multiple countries, including the U.S., Uruguay, Argentina and Peru, who recognize González as the winner of the election.
“We need to bring back democracy. It’s as simple as that,” Graziani said. “If we can be able to … respect the process, Sunday would have been a completely different thing.”
