Venezuela goes to polls as anti-government battles run in streets

Venezuela yesterday found itself 24 hours away from a consolidation of government power that appeared certain to drag the country deeper into a crisis that has entire neighbourhoods battling police and paramilitaries as the poor root for scraps of food in rubbish.

President Nicolas Maduro called for a huge turnout today for a vote to elect members of an assembly tasked with rewriting the 18-year-old constitution created under president Hugo Chavez.

The opposition is boycotting the vote which, it says, has been structured to ensure that Mr Maduro’s ruling socialist party dominates.

Yesterday, despite four months of deadly protests and the threat of US sanctions, the vote looked set to pass.

In the opposition strongholds, clashes with police began on Friday and lasted into the night. Months of violence have cost the lives of at least 113 people and injured nearly 2,000.

Residents said they wanted Mr Maduro out of power but did not want to risk their lives or livelihoods taking on his government and its backers.

“I have a young daughter, I can’t risk anything happening to me,” said Maria Llanes, a 55-year-old flower store worker who lives in a south Caracas neighbourhood dominated by armed pro-government gangs.

The opposition said the government was so afraid of low turnout that it was threatening to sack state workers who do not vote.

First lady Cilia Flores, a candidate for the assembly, has said it would create a commission to ensure those responsible for the political upheaval “pay and learn their lesson”.

Diosdado Cabello, first vice president of Venezuela’s socialist party, has said the assembly will strip legislators in the opposition-controlled national assembly of their immunity from prosecution.

The US has imposed sanctions on members of Mr Maduro’s administration, and vice president Mike Pence promised “strong and swift economic actions” after today’s vote.

He did not say whether the US would sanction Venezuelan oil imports, a measure with the potential to undermine Mr Maduro but one that would deepen the humanitarian crisis in the country.

Opinion polls show that more than 70 per cent of the country is opposed to today’s vote. But as many as half of all Venezuelans support neither the government nor the opposition.

While Venezuelans complain about shortages of food and medicine, few still respond to opposition calls for protests, a far cry from early demonstrations when hundreds of thousands took to the streets.

On Friday, the opposition called for marches on the day of the assembly vote.

In the eastern neighbourhood of Bello Monte, the site of battles with police, a 54-yearold shop owner named Ricardo watched an emaciated man pick through skips for food.

Ricardo said he felt today’s vote meant the last chance for a political resolution was gone.

“Negotiations have come to an end,” he said. “The fight will continue and all of a sudden it could be a lot tougher.”