Venezuelan opposition says it must rebuild after setback in regional elections

The opposition of Venezuela It needs to rebuild and reflect on its strategy after suffering a heavy defeat in the regional elections at the weekend, its leader said on Monday. Juan Guaidó, who called for unity among the leaders of the fragmented movement, thus expressing a position supported by other opponents.

The National Electoral Council (CNE) Venezuela released a second official bulletin on Monday temporarily modifying the result of the elections in which it grants the ruling party 18 governorships, of the 20 that it had been assigned the day before, because in two states there is a very closed vote dispute.

The opposition continued with the victory in three states and until the close scrutiny is resolved in the states, Barinas and Apure, traditionally pro-government areas.

The opponents absent themselves from the 2018 presidential elections and the 2020 parliamentary elections, arguing that a fair vote was impossible due to the interference of the illegitimate Nicolás Maduro regime. But they returned to the polls this year amid frustration over the failure of US sanctions seeking Maduro’s removal from power.

Sunday’s vote was seen as a litmus test before the presidential elections scheduled for 2024. The opposition was also strengthened by the presence of election observers from the European Union, whose first preliminary report is expected on Tuesday.

Guaidó, who is recognized by Washington and his allies as the legitimate leader of Venezuela, said Monday that the opposition needed to “rebuild” after the results.

“Today a new phase must open. Today is a day of reflection for part of the leadership and those who call themselves leaders. It is not a time of fight between the parties or of egos between political leaders, “added Guaidó, without further details.

Before the vote, political analysts had said that the opposition’s belated decision to participate and the infighting over whether to run would damage their performance.

The opposition urgently needs to rethink its strategy to reconnect with voters, said Enderson Sequera, director of the local Politiks consultancy, adding that “the conclusion of the past elections in Venezuela is very clear: Chavismo is more stable in the power and the opposition are further away from achieving political change ”.

In that second bulletin of results, the winner of the state of Zulia, in the northwest of the country, was the former presidential candidate of the opposition, Manuel Rosales, who was the second most voted in the country with 56.1%. The ruling party Lizeta Hernández, winner of the Delta Amacuro governorship, was the most voted with 60.5%, but in that entity the number of voters is low.

In Maracaibo, the capital of Zulia, Rosales said on Monday that “I have no complexes in saying that the opposition forces are in crisis, that the opposition force in Venezuela is in crisis.”

“This crisis cannot be hidden with complacent speeches, here we have to assume a change to save Venezuela or there will be a regime for many more years, and that cannot happen, this regime has to come out. The opposition, we come from error to error, from mistakes that in the end favor the regime, ”added Rosales, a 68-year-old lawyer.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken affirmed that the illegitimate Maduro government held flawed elections on Sunday that “skewed the process” to predetermine the outcome in favor of his party.

Rebuild trust

Despite the opposition’s efforts to boost the vote, turnout was 41.80%, which is equivalent to some 8.1 million people who voted, out of the 21 million registered to do so. Regional elections in Venezuela normally attract fewer voters and the average turnout is calculated between 40% and 50%, according to pollsters. Low turnout in Venezuela favors the political machine of the ruling Socialist Party, analysts added.

“It must be said, it is the opposition that needs oxygen at the moment. The government once again demonstrated that despite being a minority in terms of macro popular support, it remains in power in the absence of a strategically coordinated opposition, “said Maryhen Jiménez, a researcher associated with the Center for Latin America at the University of Oxford. .

Amid the long economic recession and hyperinflation, many Venezuelans are disillusioned with politics. Millions of people have emigrated due to the crisis.

“What is the potential of the opposition ?, Well,” the discomfort of the people, “said the political scientist John Magdaleno, director of the Polity Consultant. This malaise will not change in the short term due to years of “repression, violation of guarantees”, but it is “a potential energy of a latent social force” that must be channeled by the opposition parties.

Although the ruling party won the majority of the governorships, its vote fell to about 3.7 million, according to CNE figures, compared to the 5.9 million votes it obtained in the 2017 regional elections.

Maduro said on Sunday that he would not negotiate with the opposition in Mexico again until the “kidnapping” of the government’s special envoy Alex Saab, recently extradited to the United States on money laundering charges, is answered. The talks are intended to seek a way out of the economic and social crisis in Venezuela.

Guaidó said that “there is a cautious wait” on whether the government would return to the table and added that they will discuss with international allies mechanisms to “increase pressure on the regime.”