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Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro won by an overwhelming majority in the criticized parliamentary elections last weekend. But the election was boycotted by the opposition, which held an alternative referendum during the week.
Opposition leader Juan Guaidó with supporters in a neighborhood in Venezuela’s capital Caracas earlier this week.
Attendance at the polls last weekend was low, with only 31 percent of eligible voters in Venezuela attending. But it was a victory for Maduro and his socialist PSUV party, which regained control of the National Assembly after losing a majority in 2015.
The opposition, led by Juan Guaidó, has accused the government of electoral fraud and encouraged people to boycott the elections.
For the past week, opposition parties organized an alternative referendum, which ended on Saturday in the hope of supporting the annulment of last weekend’s elections.
According to the opposition, around 6.4 million people participated, more than in the elections that gave Maduro victory, says Guaidó.
But despite the fact that millions of Venezuelans chose to participate, both locally and abroad, the large-scale mobilization like that of last year’s protests has not taken place.
In January 2019, Guaidó was proclaimed president. According to him, Maduro’s re-election to the presidency in 2018 was not legitimate due to electoral fraud. Guaidó has been recognized by several countries as interim president, including the United States.
