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The opposition to the president of Venezuela, Nicolás Maduro, lost its only connection with the institutions of political power in the country this Sunday, after the confirmation of the victory of the Chavez parties in the legislative elections for the National Assembly. The result was never in doubt because the majority of the opposition decided to boycott the elections, which had only 31% of the electorate.
With more than 80% of the votes counted, the coalition dominated by the United Socialist Party of Venezuela (PSUV) obtained 67.7% and regained the majority in the country’s parliament.
“The revolutionary forces know how to win and lose, and today we were the winners,” Maduro said in a statement to the country made early on Monday.
“A new National Assembly opens on January 5 in peace,” declared the Venezuelan president.
Faced with the boycott of the opposition and the lack of international recognition beyond his traditional allies, Nicolás Maduro framed the victory of the PSUV as “a change of cycle, a positive cycle of work and recovery.”
“We are going to start a process of recovery of the country, of the economy, of overcoming the blockade. A new cycle, with sovereignty. Let no one interfere in the internal affairs of Venezuela, “said Maduro.
Five years after losing control of the National Assembly to the opposition, in an unprecedented defeat in two decades of Chavismo, the PSUV once again controls the country’s parliament.
As of January 5, with the inauguration of the new deputies, the main face of the opposition, Juan Guaidó, ceases to be the president of the National Assembly – and thus also loses part of the internal legitimacy as a figure. unifying the opponents.
Hours before the first results were announced Sunday night, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said the legislative elections in Venezuela were “a fraud.”
“The results announced by the illegitimate Maduro regime do not reflect the will of the Venezuelan people,” Pompeo said in the Twitter.
And Guaidó – president of the National Assembly until January 5 and self-proclaimed president of Venezuela recognized by more than 50 countries, including the United States and the European Union – welcomed the “loss of popular support” of the Venezuelan government.
“Despite censorship and hegemony in communication, the truth cannot be hidden: the majority of Venezuela has turned its back on Maduro and his fraud began months ago,” said Juan Guaidó.
The five-year gap in the hegemony of Chavismo in the institutions of the political and judicial power of Venezuela came to scare the regime in early 2019, when the National Assembly declared Juan Guaidó as president of the country, followed by a wave of international support . But two years later, the Venezuelan opposition was unable to capitalize on that moment and its popularity ratings are now as low as those of the government, according to polls.
The National Assembly was in the hands of the opposition in the elections of December 6, 2015, but its power to legislate and control the country’s politics was practically canceled in 2017, when Maduro announced elections for a parallel Constituent Assembly. Officially in charge of discussing and approving the new Constitution, the assembly was the de facto legislative body in the country, under the control of the parties of the regime.
In May 2018, Nicolás Maduro was re-elected as president of Venezuela, in elections that were also highly criticized inside and outside the country, in which the main opposition figures were prevented from participating.
The year 2019 came to be seen, in the US and the European Union, as the year of the defeat of Chavismo – international support for Juan Guaidó, the strengthening of sanctions and the deep economic, social and humanitarian crisis in the country gave a unique opportunity for the opposition to overthrow Maduro.
But that is not what happened, and the confirmation of the victory of the PSUV in Sunday’s elections could mark the end of the current configuration of the opposition.
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