Washington threatens to escalate sanctions in wake of Venezuelan regional elections
By
Andrea Lobo
18 October 2017
In a further intensification of the political war in Venezuela, the US-backed opposition and the Trump administration claimed that Sunday’s regional elections, in which the ruling party coalition won 17 of the 23 governorships, were rigged.
Nonetheless, the results and the relatively small turnout of 61 percent–compared to over 74 percent in parliamentary election two years ago–reflect widespread opposition to both factions of the ruling elite amid a worsening economic and social crisis.
The Bolivarian coalition led by the ruling United Socialist Party of Venezuela (PSUV) received slightly less than the 5.6 million votes that it received in the 2015 legislative elections. At that time, as the country’s economy plunged along with oil and other commodity prices, the opposition MUD coalition won an overwhelming majority in the National Assembly with 7.7 million votes. However, this weekend it obtained only 4.8 million votes, presaging a similar or worse result in next year’s presidential elections.
President Nicolás Maduro has publicly proclaimed a “strong victory” for the ruling party, in spite of its losing control of three states, Mérida, Táchira and Zulia, all of which were centers of the provocative anti-government protests organized by the MUD earlier this year that left at least 125 protesters dead and thousands injured.
After polls showing the MUD comfortably in the lead, the opposition has reacted to the vote totals with anger and despair. Once polling stations had closed on Sunday night, the former secretary general of the MUD, Ramón Guillermo Aveledo, told the press: “What happened today in Venezuela, which we feel so proud of, is an…