San Francisco Chronicle - (Sunday)
Maduro’s rivals seek gains in key regional contests
CARACAS, Venezuela — President Nicolás Maduro is not on the ballot for Sunday’s elections across Venezuela and the winners of the gubernatorial and local races likely won’t be well known beyond their country’s borders. But the regional elections could play a pivotal role in determining whether the South American country can find a way out of its yearslong political stalemate.
The stakes for the local contests were raised when the main opposition parties earlier this year agreed to participate for the first time since 2017, a decision that came amid nowsuspended negotiations between the government and opponents. The Venezuelan authorities at the same time agreed to the presence of independent international observers, including the European Union, a longstanding demand of the opponents of the socialist government.
Now, electoral authorities and the system they oversee will be put to the test after years marked by their decisions to disqualify parties and some of the most popular opposition candidates. More than 21 million Venezuelans are eligible to vote in over 3,000 contests, including 23 governorships and 335 mayorships. More than 70,000 candidates entered the races.
“The elections are incredibly important because they represent a time when the opposition has agreed to participate, albeit divided over the value of doing so,” said Cynthia Arnson, director of the Latin American Program at the Wilson Center
Carmen Melendez (center), the ruling party’s candidate for mayor of Caracas, holds a campaign rally Thursday in the capital. Regional elections for mayors and governors will be held Sunday.
in Washington. “It represents evidence of an incremental step toward electoral participation.”
The opposition parties grouped in the so-called “Unitary Platform” and led by Juan Guaidó boycotted previous elections, including the reelection of Maduro as president in May 2018, arguing that Venezuela lacks the conditions for free and just contests.
The ruling party and the
opposition agreed to invite election observers before their negotiations in Mexico City were suspended last month following the extradition to the U.S. of a key Maduro ally.
Many doubt the impartiality of the National Electoral Council, accusing it of setting conditions detrimental to the opposition. In an effort to rescue Venezuelans’ confidence in elections, the makeup of the council
was changed leading up to the election.
In May, the National Assembly appointed two well-known opponents as members of the council’s leadership. It is the first time since 2005 that the opposition has more than one member on the board of the five-person panel.