Valencia, Venezuela – In the Venezuelan town of Los Guayos, Elsa Rojas sits proudly under a blue tent erected in a corner of the main square.
A large poster hangs down from one corner of the awning. Another is draped over the white plastic table in front of her.
Both bear the same moustachioed face: that of President Nicolas Maduro, styled in the colours of the Venezuelan flag.
Rojas meticulously reviews a list attached to her clipboard. All morning, she has asked passersby to pledge to vote for Maduro as he seeks a third term in Sunday’s presidential elections.
“I feel proud to be a revolutionary,” she said, echoing the rhetoric of the Bolivarian Revolution, the socialist movement that Maduro has championed. “Maduro has given us so much.”
But the 46-year-old mother of three, who works in local government, admits that rallying support for Maduro’s United Socialist Party of Venezuela (PSUV) has been more challenging than in the past.
She is herself part of a dwindling base of support. As Sunday’s election approaches, Maduro has seen his grip on power weaken, as the opposition surges in the polls.
Even once-loyal supporters have turned their backs on Maduro, openly embracing rival candidate Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia, a retired diplomat.
One recent survey from the data firm Delphos and Andres Bello Catholic University found that more than 59 percent of voters polled supported Gonzalez, compared with 26.7 percent for Maduro.
But Maduro and his allies are hoping that economic incentives — and the spectre of foreign influence in Venezuela’s politics — will help draw voters to their side, though critics warn the incumbent is not above using repression to ensure his victory.