Page 11 - atoday

WORLD NEWS A11
Tuesday 5 January 2016

Combative Venezuela opposition leader will head congress

The General Secretary of Opposition coalition Jesus Torrealba, through the most dramatic erates and hard-liners, position’s legislative victory
center, rise the arms of Venezuela National Assembly President policies. and the two sides have ex- a vindication of his party’s
candidates Julio Borges, left, and Henry Ramos Allup, right, in But policy and strategy changed barbs since their focus on building electoral
Caracas, Venezuela, Sunday, Jan. 3, 2016. Newly-elected op- disagreements within the coalition’s landslide victory support district by district.
position lawmakers voted in Ramos as National Assembly presi- opposition will make it over the socialists. His party won 33 of the op-
dent. hard to get the most high- Even as the scale of the position’s 112 seats in the
stakes votes through, said victory was still settling after new congress.
(AP Photo/Fernando Llano) R. Evan Ellis, a professor of polls closed, some opposi- In recent weeks, Capriles
Latin American studies at tion members began talk- has lambasted opposition
HANNAH DREIER bloc of opposition seats. the United States Army War ing jubilantly about taking leaders who have advo-
Associated Press Although Ramos hasn’t College Strategic Studies steps to remove Maduro cated street activism, par-
CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) joined in street protests Institute. and rewrite the constitution ticularly a wave of protests
— An outspoken opposi- against the government, “I suspect that the govern- while others cautioned that that shut down parts of
tion leader known for em- he won with the help of ment will also use a combi- the voters wanted eco- Venezuela in 2014 and re-
bracing confrontation was opposition hard-liners who nation of personal induce- nomic reforms rather than sulted in dozens of deaths.
chosen to head Venezu- favor such demonstra- ments and legal intimida- a political fight. Carpriles said that if the op-
ela’s new congress when it tions and other confronta- tion to try to coopt some Justice First leader Henrique position had continued to
opens this week as a coun- tion with President Nicolas of the members of the new Capriles, a governor who pursue open confrontation
terweight to the socialist Maduro’s administration. congress,” he said. narrowly lost to Maduro in in the streets, the coalition
administration. Borges’ party advocates a The opposition has long the last presidential elec- would never have won
The newly elected op- focus on negotiation and been split between mod- tion in 2013, called the op- congress.q
position majority voted to elections.
make Henry Ramos Allup “We ask the people to
the president of the Na- watch us, to demand more
tional Assembly when it is of us, and keep an eye on
seated Tuesday. The new what we do to make sure
session will be the first time that we honor our commit-
foes of the administration ment,” he said.
have had control of any Ramos’ supporters praise
government institution in him as an experienced
more than a decade. operative well-positioned
Ramos, 72, is a divisive to wrangle the dozens of
figure that government parties that make up Ven-
supporters love to hate ezuela’s opposition coali-
as much for his acerbic tion and stand up to what
tongue as for his leadership is sure to be an offensive by
in the once-hegemonic the administration.
Democratic Action party Skeptics say Ramos is too
that co-governed Venezu- prone to spouting off and
ela for decades before plays into the govern-
the late President Hugo ment’s attempts to paint
Chavez won power in 1998 the opposition as entitled
and began his leftist pro- snobs nostalgic for the days
gram. when elites ran Venezuela.
Ramos’ rival for the legis- The opposition won a cru-
lative presidency was Ju- cial two-thirds legislative
lio Borges, 46, a member “super-majority” by a single
of the Justice First party, a seat in the Dec. 6 elections
newer, moderate move- and it will need to cor-
ment that won the biggest ral every lawmaker to get