My country is at the edge of a cliff, at the last second before a leap of faith. We stand before a choice between changing drastically the way things have been moving up until the present time, or keep the pace at which our politicians lead our journey towards development.

I feel fortunate, grateful even, for the opportunity of living in one of the most democratic places of the world. Yet, this does not feel as exciting as the first vote ought to feel.

The last three governments, the only ones I remember well, have been famous for massive corruption scandals. During the last years, the rich have become richer, and the poor, poorer. Yes, this is happening across the globe as well. And, yes, we are in grave danger of landing on the hands of a Communist party.

Better working conditions for middle classes. More opportunities for small businesses to thrive. No more taxes that are paid by the commoners so that the rich can continue to brag their luxurious cars across town. We have heard this speech hundreds of times. Hundreds. But, this small Communist party knows exactly how to spread this information across homes and work places. They know how to speak, act, behave and argue – even though their candidate for President strolls across the country on the back seat of an expensive vehicle, chauffeur included. They know we know they are full of themselves. Yet they also know we know they can convince an important part of the population to vote for them. And so they wink during interviews, smile while on debates.

Deductively, you would assume we are doing whatever we can to make the remaining strongest candidate to win. Yet, what can we do if the other candidate belongs to the party responsible for pushing the people to seek more extremist solutions? How can you encourage a vote for a person that represents corruption, lies, social abandonment and the perpetuation of the same people in power? You cannot. And this is the problem. How can we move away from radical points of view when the only thing the population wants is a chance to be heard, a moment on the spotlight, a second of rebellion? This is a challenge thousands of young ones are trying to overcome, but personally, I see a second round as our definite future. None of the presidential candidates have over 40% of the country’s support on the surveys and there are still more than 20% of people undecided only a week away from Election Day.

I do not think the people realize the seriousness of the situation we are in. A few days ago, my stepfather received a call from the renters of a commercial place he owns at the local mall. They told him that if this Communist party wins the elections, they would leave the country and close their stores. They came from Venezuela, running away from Chavez’s (now Maduro's) oppressive rule, and they said they are seeing a pattern here that they much rather forget.

I see why people would want to vote for them. I certainly agree with some of their protests against the previous governments. Inequality is rapidly rising. The poor are being left behind. Social security and healthcare are declining in quality. We feel betrayed. Yet we have to see beyond the immediate problems. We have to analize what a radical and sudden solution would mean to our economy, heavily dependent on international trade and influence. Instead of helping society through social mobility, we would be bringing everybody to the same level of poverty.

What can we do to make a country hungry for justice see the dangers of history repeating itself?