(14 Apr 2013)
New Orleans, US
1. Mid Venezuelan voters getting off bus to cast their ballots for the presidential election at the Pontchartrain Centre
2. Wide of voters putting on feather boas in colours of Venezuelan flag
3. Zoom in of sticker on woman's cheek reading (Spanish) "I voted, New Orleans 2013."
4. Wide of Venezuelan voters gathered outside centre waiting to vote
5. Pan of voters singing and playing music
6. Voter waving a Venezuelan flag
7. Wide of voters shouting (Spanish) "Long live Capriles, long live Venezuela."
8. Wide of voters holding up their ink-stained fingers to show they have voted
Havana, Cuba
9. Wide exterior of Venezuelan Consulate with voters outside
10. Close up of girl with Venezuelan flag painted on her face
11. Wide of polling station table
12. Close up of ballot paper
13. Various of man voting
14. SOUNDBITE: (Spanish) Edgardo Ramirez, Venezuelan Ambassador to Cuba:
"Everything is normal. Everybody is in line, the process started at the scheduled time: 6 in the morning. The process lasts 12 hours. At 6 in the evening we close."
15. Various of woman voting
16. Maria Elena Rosario, Venezuelan citizen living in Cuba collecting her ballot paper
17. SOUNDBITE: (Spanish) Maria Elena Rosario, Venezuelan citizen living in Cuba:
"I have noticed that here at this embassy, even though it's the first time I vote outside my country, the process is very transparent. They are very respectful and punctual. What's more, I think they started ahead of time because they started at 6 in the morning!"
18. Wide of voters outside consulate chanting (Spanish): "With all our hearts: Long Live Chavez! Long Live Nicolas!"
STORYLINE:
Thousands of Venezuelans living in the United States braved torrential storms in New Orleans on Sunday to cast their ballots for the presidential election taking place in their homeland.
Voters have to decide between Hugo Chavez's chosen successor, Acting President Nicolas Maduro, or opposition candidate Henrique Capriles.
With many wearing hats and jackets in the colour of the Venezuelan flag voters chatted and even sang as they waited to vote at the Pontchartrain Centre in New Orleans.
The Venezuelan Consulate office in the city was considered too small to accommodate all the voters.
The largest concentration of Venezuelans in the US reside in South Florida and are expected to vote for Capriles.
Chavez closed the Miami consulate in January 2012, leaving New Orleans as the next closest.
Some 20-thousand Venezuelans were registered to vote at the Miami Consulate.
With just six weeks of preparation, Venezuelans in Florida have raised money, contracted buses and arranged car sharing pools.
Organisers said they expected a turnout similar or higher than that of last October, when 8,500 Venezuelans cast ballots in New Orleans.
It is unlikely their numbers will decide the election however.
Last October, Capriles lost by 1.6 million votes.
There are nearly 19 million registered voters in Venezuela and around 38-thousand Venezuelan voters in the US.
Meanwhile some of the four hundred Venezuelans living in Cuba were casting their votes at the consulate in Havana on Sunday.
"Everything is normal. Everybody is in line, the process started at the established time," said Venezuelan Ambassador to Cuba Edgardo Ramirez.
Voter Maria Elena Rosario said this was the first time she had voted outside of Venezuela and she was impressed with the organisation at the consulate.
Venezuela is one of Cuba's largest trading partners and the island receives a large amount of Venezuelan oil.
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