Referendum to oust Venezuelan leader begins
CARACAS, Venezuela — President Nicolas Maduro has cemented formal control over all major institutions of power in Venezuela with authorities reporting Monday that his political alliance easily won a majority in congress. Yet he remains a pariah to much of the world after an election critics called deeply undemocratic.
Maduro’s domestic adversaries, however, are also scrambling to assert their own relevance after boycotting elections for the National Assembly that has been their stronghold for five years.
Opposition groups led by Juan Guaido launched a referendum on Monday in an attempt to reignite a campaign to oust Maduro in a nation suffering unprecedented economic and political crises that have spurred millions to flee abroad.
And both sides are waiting to see what happens in Washington as PresidentJoe Biden takes office next month, replacing a Trump administration that piled sanctions atop criminal charges atop embargoes in so-far unsuccessful attempts to drive Maduro from power.
While Biden has referred to Maduro as “a dictator,” he and aides have made few detailed statements about how they will approach the crisis in Venezuela.
“Both the Guaido interim government and the de facto Maduro regime have failed to deliver on their promises and produce results,” said Michael Shifter, president of the Washington-based Inter-American
Dialogue. “The distrust is almost total, and with good reason.”
Just 31% of eligible Venezuelans voted Sunday, according to Venezuelan electoral officials loyal to Maduro. Authorities said that his United Socialist Party of Venezuela and allied parties captured 67% of seats in the National Assembly. Turnout for the previous congressional election in 2015 was more than double that percentage.
“The results of the election show a discouraged, tired people, the vast majority doing everything possible to survive,” Shifter said.
The National Assembly
has been the last major government institution held by the opposition, though Maduro loyalists in the courts and other institutions had largely sidelined the legislature by rejecting its decisions and unseating senior figures there.
Guaido’s leadership of congress won him recognition as Venezuela’s l e g i t i m a te president from the U.S. and scores of other countries that considered Maduro’s own most recent election invalid. But the National Assembly’s term expires Jan. 5.
The U.S., Panama, Canada and Germany have repeated their condemnation of the the election by Maduro’s government following announcement of the results.
In a statement, European Union foreign ministers said Monday the vote “failed to comply with the minimum international standards for a credible process and to mobilize the Venezuelan people to participate.”
“Venezuela urgently needs a political solution to end the current impasse and to allow for the delivery of the urgently required humanitarian assistance to its people,” the EU and European Council said.
More than 5 million people have fled the country in recent years, the world’s largest migration after that of war-torn Syria. The International Monetary Fund projects a 25% decline this year in Venezuela’s gross domestic product, while hyperinflation has devoured its currency, the bolivar, now worth less than a millionth of a dollar on the free market.
Guaido’s opposition movement is holding its own referendum that started Monday with a form of voting by cellphone app and concludes Saturday with in-person balloting.
It asks Venezuelans whether they want to end Maduro’s “usurpation of the presidency” and hold new presidential elections.
“Although I cannot promise a magic solution today, I can tell you with certainty and security: You are not alone. We will not give up,” Guaido said in a Sunday video message. “We are going to give everything until we win.”
“The results of the
election show a discouraged, tired people, the vast majority doing everything possible
to survive.”
— Michael Shifter, foreign policy expert