Venezuelan Elections: The Opposition’s Bold Measures and Maduros Response

The Venezuelan elections have caused a great divide between the people: those who support President Nicholas Maduro, and those that vehemently disagree with him, according to the New York Times. Juan Guaido, the U.S.-backed opposition leader, has led many actions trying to unseat Maduro from his position, but all have been fruitless so far. 

Maduro was elected in 2013 as Venezuela’s President and re-elected in 2018. He had narrowly won the election in 2013 with a 1.5% voting difference between him and his former competitor, Henrique Capriles. Following Maduro’s election, and with Venezuela trapped in an economic depression since 2010, the parties opposing Maduro started to grow, according to opposition supporters.

“At a time when Venezuela is going through a dictatorship, unity is essential,” Gauido said in regards to the election in a video meeting with the U.S. envoy to Venezuela. The opposition claims that Maduro wants to rule under a one-party system and is steering Venezuela in that direction. 

The opposition has been trying to uproot Maduro and his party through continuous protests and strikes, but they have started to seek more drastic measures, according to The Washington Times. 

Guaido persisted in organizing a boycott of the election polls on Dec. 6, in which he had the support of 27 other opposition parties. This movement came into fruition after the Venezuelan government pardoned 100 opposition parties that had been accused of going against Maduro to promote “national reconciliation,” writes DW.

Henrique Capriles and Ivan Stalin Gonzalez,  prominent opposition lawmakers, recently broke away from Guaido’s boycott and have indicated their willingness to participate in the elections on Dec. 6. This has further divided the opposition party into two: those who support Guaido’s idea and those who do not. 

Less than one-third of Venezuelans believe that they should call for a boycott of this election, and with the opposition parties fractured and not knowing how to move forward, Maduro’s campaign has been thriving, according to the New York Times.

“If these elections take place, then President Nicolas Maduro will get the majority he wants in the National Assembly,” Sabine Kurtenbach, a political scientist in the German Institute for Global and Area studies, told DW. “[Those that support Maduro] are more likely to get seats. The opposition, which wants a change of government, doesn’t have a chance of winning.”  

Maduro has used this divide in the opposition parties to try and gain control of the National Assembly, trying to portray the vote as more democratic by having important opposition figures that do not support the boycott participate. 

Many from the opposition do not support the boycott of election polls. In 2018, the boycotted election polls on the opposition’s end led to Maduro becoming president for a second term. 

With the election this December and the opposition in pieces, many believe that Maduro’s party will proceed as the one in power. 

“As long as the opposition is unable to overcome its divisions,” Kurtenbach said, “it is the best guarantee that Nicolas Maduro’s regime will remain in power.”

Article by Ryleigh Waters of Watkins Mill High School

Photo courtesy of Creative Commons