Caracas/Mexico City. Venezuela’s opposition parties, including far-right elements who have boycotted the electoral process for years, announced on Tuesday they would take part in regional elections to be held in November.
The decision of the self-proclaimed “unified platform” – which includes Democratic Action, Popular Will, Justice First and A New Era – represents a significant U-turn by hardline parties that have not participated in elections since 2017. Instead, US-sponsored forces supported coup attempts and plans aimed at seizing power by force.
Veteran Venezuelan politician Henri Ramos Allup told the press that the candidate would run under the umbrella of the Democratic Unity Table (MUD), which was recently re-approved by the country’s electoral authority.
Ramos said he respected those who disagreed with participating, but also urged them to respect the second term.
“For those who believe that elections are not the solution… what is the solution?” Ramos asked. The opposition politician said the decision to vote in regional elections was blessed by the US, Canada and the European Union (EU).
The single platform was announced a few days before the opposition and the government of President Nicolas Maduro are set to meet in Mexico City for a second round of talks.
Moderate opposition parties had earlier announced that they would field candidates for governor and mayor elections on 21 November. The late decision to single platform poses a challenge to the forces forming the MUD alliance as other parties have been preparing for the elections for months. There are no reports that different regions have agreed on individual candidates, and given the short time, some observers have warned that the opposition will eventually split votes.
The deadline for registering candidates with the election authority is till September 1 and then till September 4. extended guidelineSo that the opposition alliance can submit its list. However, the names of the candidate politicians were not yet available at the time of this writing.
Do you appreciate our reporting?
Then donate to america21 and support our current, in-depth and professional articles about events in Latin America and the Caribbean.
So that all the content of america21.de is still available free to everyone.
Your America21 Team
you can donate here
Henrique Capriles, a former two-time presidential candidate of the Justice First Party (Primero Justicia), was one of the most active voices in calling the opposition, persecuted by Leopoldo López and the self-proclaimed “interim president” Juan Guaido, both of whom are the two leaders. The Volntad Popular Party abandoned the strategy of rebellion.
Rumors that the hardline opposition would drop its election boycott and run candidates had been around for days. Guaidó was not expected to appear at the OLUP press conference. When asked about the status of the US-backed politician, Ramos insisted that “Guaidó is not a party” and that the Vauxville Party agreed to run in the election.
The government’s opponents’ decision to vote is another blow to Guaidó, who hastened to overthrow the Maduro government despite failing to exercise real political power or declaring himself president with the support of the US, Canada and the European Union. marginalized from.
The former lawmaker and his international supporters have previously said they would not support a political solution without Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro resigning and holding a new presidential election.
For his part, Maduro has long called on the extremist opposition to run in the polls and welcomed Tuesday’s announcement, but also took the opportunity to mock Guaidó’s change of course.
“I’ll sit in my chair, turn on the TV and eat popcorn to watch Juan Guaidó vote on November 21,” the president said on a television program.
Talks between the Maduro government and the opposition are being held in Mexico from tomorrow, Friday Continuous. Parliamentary Speaker Jorge Rodriguez leads the government’s delegation, opposition politician Gerardo Belide leads the Single Platform’s delegation. Caracas is working to end US-imposed sanctions, which have exacerbated the economic crisis that has caused Venezuela’s GDP to decline by nearly 70 percent since 2013.
In a statement co-signed by the European Union’s High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Josep Borrell and Canada’s Secretary of State Mark Garneau, US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken said Washington and its allies “ready to review the sanctions policy”. Will be.” The regime is making significant progress in the announced talks.”
