President Nicholas Maduro won convincingly in the elections to the 277 seat National Assembly elections in Venezuela on December 6 thereby ending the five year old majority of the right wingers following their victory in the 2015 elections. With the capture of National Assembly which is like the Parliament, President Maduro is now in complete control of all the wings of the Government, judiciary and the Army to lead the 30 million people of this Latin American country towards the projected path of his United Socialist Party (PSUV) which was led by Hugo Chavez before him.
The elections were boycotted by the rightwing opposition led by Juan Guaido who declared himself as the president in 2019 and sought the support of the United States and other countries of the west. He was immediately recognized as the interim president by about 50 countries including the US and the EU nations. But in effect, the right wing leader could not remove Maduro as the President had loyalty of the Venezuelan army and the Supreme Court gave Maduro full support to carry on his constitutional responsibilities.
Amidst all the machinations of the rightwing lobby supported by Trump administration and the big media, Maduro was able to hold the elections on Sunday, but the turnout was only 31 per cent of the 20 million registered voters. The election commission declared that Maduro’s party PSUV got 67 per cent of the votes while another opposition group got18 percent. Interestingly, the Venezuelan Communist Party which all along supported Maduro and before him Hugo Chavez delinked from PSUV in this election and fought separately along with some other left groups.
Given what the right have used their parliamentary majority to do — including repeated attempts to overthrow the democratically elected President Nicolás Maduro, organize violent street insurgencies that targeted and killed scores of suspected “Chavistas” (often identified as such solely by their dark skin) and provide a platform for the assembly’s rotating president, Juan Guaidó, to unconstitutionally declare himself president of the country last year, the victory of PSUV in the National Assembly elections, is a positive development for the Latin American left. After Bolivian elections and the defeat of the right wing President Bolsonaro’s party in municipal polls in Brazil, the Venezuelan victory is another positive development.
However, President Maduro has tough tasks ahead. The economy is in a mess with inflation at a peak level hitting the people hardest. Brazilian communists have alleged that President Maduro has been opting for some anti people policies of late, he is not listening to the views of the left trade unions. After his victory, Maduro has to consolidate his gains and broaden his front to include the other left groups like before. The rightwing threat is still alive as Guaido is organizing a referendum this week calling people to give their views on the legitimacy of the elections of December 6. If he gets good response, more than 31 per cent, that will be a jolt to PSUV and in that event, the right bloc will get encouragement to intensify their battle against the Maduro government.
Adán Chávez Frias, elder brother of the revolutionary Hugo Chavez who led Venezuela from 1999 until his death in 2013, is currently Venezuelan ambassador to Cuba and vice-chair of the United Socialist Party (PSUV). He said in a recent interview that Maduro has fought valiantly against the combined pressure of the US administration and the right wing bloc, he has kept the country united. On the left wing groups who have fought elections separately this time, should support him and discuss their grievances in a friendly manner This seems sensible .It will be good for the left movement in Venezuela as a whole if such dialogue takes place now and the Venezuelan communists come on board with PSUV to fight the common enemy.
Although the Bolivarian revolution was able to mobilize supporters in massive counter-demonstrations when attempts to overturn the government were at their height, and have seen off each opposition push to seize power, Chavez says attempts have come “so close” to success that regaining a majority in the assembly would be a “very important victory” that will allow the body to work together with other branches of government again, pass laws and bring the political stability needed to overcome the U.S.’s economic war on Venezuela.
The Constituent Assembly, that was elected in 2017 to amend the constitution because of the constitutional crisis created by the National Assembly’s war against the presidency, will wind up at the end of this year and the newly elected National Assembly will take over the law making. The left observers of the Venezuelan political scene feel that President Maduro has redeem himself as a great socialist reformer if he expands the areas of democracy more and starts dialogue with other friendly left parties to work out a common programme for giving a better life to the 3 crore Venezuelan people. (IPA Service)