[ad_1]
The National Assembly was the last state institution in Venezuela over which the opposition had control. Up to this point. Because opponents of the authoritarian head of state Nicolás Maduro have clearly lost their majority in the parliamentary elections. According to the electoral authority, the socialist party of the PSUV president and the allied parties obtained almost 68 percent of the votes in Sunday’s vote.
The turnout was only 31 percent. One reason: opposition leader Juan Guaidó had called for a boycott of the vote. However, the opposition had run for elections in some parts of the country. Now he got 18 percent of the vote. About 14,000 candidates from more than 100 parties had competed for the 227 seats in the National Assembly.
The election was overshadowed by serious allegations of fraud. Even before the vote, the Organization of American States (OAS) had declared that the conditions for a free and fair election did not exist.
Setback for Guaidó
The election is now a major setback for opposition leader Guiadó. This has been a bitter power struggle with Maduro since early 2019. Parliamentary President Guaidó had declared himself interim president of the country. It is officially recognized by around 60 countries, including the United States and Germany. However, Guiadó has not yet managed to decisively impose himself on Maduro, who has the support of the military. Without a parliamentary majority, Guaidó will now find it much more difficult to justify his own legitimacy.
Venezuela is going through a deep political and economic crisis. Since November 2019 alone, inflation in the country has risen by 4,000 percent. There is a shortage of food, medicine and daily necessities in Venezuela. Much of the population of the South American country lives in poverty.
