The historic win by Venezuela’s opposition coalition in Sunday’s legislative elections in which they captured 112 seats in the 167 seat National Assembly over the ruling United Socialist Party of President Nicholas Maduro has politicians in the United States on both sides of the aisle praising the Venezuelan people for “bringing their country back from the brink of being a failed state.” The opposition will now have a supermajority in the legislature when it takes office on January 5th.
In a statement, New Jersey Senator Robert Menendez said “Maduro’s term may not be up yet, but this election was a resounding demonstration of his complete failure.”
The election, the first time in 17 years since former President Hugo Chavez and his “Chavistas” swept to power was largely viewed as a referendum on the deeply unpopular Maduro administration, in particular his handling of the economy. With inflation reaching triple digits and food shortages common-place, surveys show that some 85% of the country is dissatisfied with the direction the country is being led.
There is also cause for concern that the government and the lame-duck National Assembly could try to nullify the election results prior to January’s new term or that Socialist Party lawmakers could try to pass legislation to weaken the authority of the incoming opposition members once they are sworn in.
In repose to the elections which Florida Congresswoman Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, closely monitored throughout the weekend, she released a statement that read in part “the continued assaults on democracy by the Maduro regime, such as the sentencing of Leopoldo (Lopez) and the assassination of Luis Manuel Diaz during the campaign, must be a catalyst to impose further sanctions on the regime officials who perpetrate these human rights abuses.”
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