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A12 WORLD NEWS
Monday 16 october 2017

Opposition vies for landmark victory in polarized Venezuela

By FABIOLA SANCHEZ ernment protests that be- ing a cup of coffee. “No. The regional elections were to suppress turnout among
CHRISTINE ARMARIO gan in April left at least 120 We are a democratic peo- originally scheduled to its base — a significant por-
Associated Press people dead. In August, ple, rebellious, and with an take place last December, tion of which has grown
CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) the new pro-government egalitarian sensibility.” but the pro-government disillusioned about the pos-
— Elections in Venezu- sibility of change and lost
ela on Sunday could tilt a faith in leaders they per-
majority of the country’ 23 ceive as disorganized and
governorships back into divided.
opposition control for the Opposition-arranged buses
first time in nearly two de- were transporting voters
cades of socialist party rule to the new sites Sunday —
— though the government some of which were nearly
said the newly elected an hour away. Other voters
governors will be subordi- from middle-class neigh-
nate to a pro-government borhoods were being sent
constitutional assembly. to vote in poor communi-
The election was being ties where crime is high.
watched closely as an indi- Susana Unda, a 57-year-old
cator of how much support homemaker who voted for
President Nicolas Maduro Ocariz, was using her truck
and the socialist movement to transport voters whose
founded by his predeces- polling sites were relocat-
sor, the late Hugo Chavez, ed. “I was born in a democ-
maintain amid soaring infla- racy and I want to die in a
tion and crippling food and democracy,” she said.
medical shortages that Electoral council president
continue to wreak havoc in Tibisay Lucena said the
Venezuelans’ daily lives. election was proceeding
Anti-government candi- Carlos Ocariz, center, opposition candidate for governor of Miranda state, yells out “Let’s go!” as with the lowest number of
dates were projected in he walks to a polling station hand-in-hand with his step-daughter Mariangel Victoria Alvarez to reported irregularities that
polls to win more than half vote in regional elections in Caracas, Venezuela, Sunday, Oct. 15, 2017. Venezuela had seen in an
(AP Photo/Fernando Llano)
the races, but this success election.
depended heavily on their constitutional assembly rul- Opposition leaders scoffed National Electoral Council “People are voting peace-
ability to motivate disen- ing with virtually unlimited at Maduro’s suggestion the postponed the vote after fully,” she said.
chanted voters. Hundreds powers was installed after a election would be held up polls showed socialist can- Nonetheless, tensions were
of Venezuelans lined up at vote that opposition lead- as proof that Venezuela didates were widely slated high in Miranda as Ocariz
some voting centers Sun- ers refused to participate in remains a vibrant democ- to lose. The vote was re- walked down a crowded,
day in Miranda, a state sur- and that the National Elec- racy. scheduled for this Decem- narrow alley to cast his bal-
rounding the nation’s capi- toral Council was accused “We are fighting to recover ber, but delegates at the lot at a voting center in the
tal, while other polling sites of manipulating. With few our democracy,” said Hen- new constitutional assem- impoverished area of Pe-
had very few. checks and balances re- rique Capriles, one of the bly later moved it up to Oc- tare.
Opposition leaders hoped maining, a rising number of opposition’s most recogniz- tober. Government supporters
voting would pick up in the foreign leaders are calling able figures. “Democracy is Days before the vote, dressed in red and wav-
afternoon. “Let your vote Venezuela a dictatorship. not just voting.” the electoral council an- ing the socialist party flag
be a testament to what In a taped message re- Maduro has warned that nounced it was mov- threw plastic bottles at the
you want: continuity or leased Sunday, Maduro new governors will have to ing more than 200 voting opposition candidate and
change,” said Carlos Oc- urged Venezuelans to vote take a loyalty oath submit- centers, predominantly called him a “terrorist.”
ariz, the opposition’s can- in what he said would be a ting to the authority of the in opposition strongholds. Soldiers stepped in to con-
didate in Miranda. “There demonstration that the na- assembly that is re-writing Council officials defended trol the situation
are two paths.” The elec- tion maintains a “vigorous the nation’s constitution. the relocations as a secu- Socialist candidates urged
tion comes during one of democracy.” Opposition candidates rity measure in areas where Venezuelans to stick with
the most turbulent years in “They’ve said we are a dic- have vowed not to submit violent protests took place the egalitarian principles
recent Venezuelan history. tatorship,” Maduro said, themselves to an assem- in July.The opposition ac- installed by Chavez while
Four months of anti-gov- walking calmly while hold- bly they consider illegal. cused the council of trying also promising change.q