VENEZUELANS VOTE, OPPOSITION CALLED THE ELECTIONS A “FRAUD”

Mon 07 December 2020:

Venezuelans began voting on Sunday in parliamentary elections which are expected to place the country’s only opposition-controlled government institution in the hands of President Nicolas Maduro’s Socialist Party.

The elections, contested by around 14,000 candidates, are expected to give Maduro control over the country’s 227-seat National Assembly.

After the president voted, he spoke to the media, describing the current National Assembly as “disastrous.”

“Today, a new National Assembly is born,” said Maduro after criticizing the outgoing one, which was won by the opposition in December 2015.

He said the current parliament, which ends its mandate on Jan. 5, “brought the plague of sanctions,” in reference to the pressure measures imposed by the US, and therefore brought to Venezuela “cruelty, pain and suffering.”

Earlier the opposition parties which are following Guaido’s lead had called on Venezuelans not to vote called the elections a “fraud.”

“The fraud has been consummated, and the majority rejection of the people of Venezuela has been evident. Despite censorship and communicational hegemony, the truth cannot be hidden,” said Guaido in a message to the nation after the closing of the polls.

The Organization of American States (OAS) refused to send observers to Sunday’s election and US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo called the voting process a “fraud and a sham.”

“Venezuela’s electoral fraud has already been committed. The results announced by the illegitimate Maduro regime will not reflect the will of the Venezuelan people. What’s happening today is a fraud and a sham, not an election,” Pompeo said on Twitter.

Venezuelan Foreign Minister Jorge Arreaza responded.

“A zombie has spoken! Although according to his Boss, there was fraud in the US elections. Secretary Pompeo, take truth calmly and resignedly: in Venezuela, your failure is absolute. We hope that soon Diplomacy returns to the State Department and the White House,” he said on Twitter.

But the opposition leader is seen as having been weakened after his confrontational strategy against Maduro failed to oust the president, including an unsuccessful military uprising in 2019, a botched raid by mercenaries in May and international sanctions.

Guaido is now also set to lose control of the National Assembly. He called a referendum for December 5-12 to gauge his support, with questions such as whether the voter rejects Maduro’s “usurping” of power and the elections.

More moderate opposition parties are participating in the elections amid uncertainty about the extent to which they could challenge the government in parliament and replace the Guaido camp as the country’s main opposition.

Guaido’s future will partly depend on whether the US changes its policy on Venezuela after president-elect Joe Biden takes office.

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