Venezuela elects a new parliament today. The current parliament is the last institutional stronghold of the opposition. President Nicolás Maduro hopes that the controversial ballot box will put an end to his biggest rival, opposition leader Juan Guaidó. He is recognized by more than fifty countries, including the Netherlands, as the only legitimate president of the South American country.
Guaidó and the major opposition parties are not participating. “This is not an election, it is a fraud,” said Guaidó on a visit to a poor area of Caracas. He called on people not to vote. That was superfluous: according to research agency Datánalisis, 70 percent of Venezuelans did not intend to vote anyway.
Food packages
The regime is hoping for a high turnout, which would increase the legitimacy of the new parliament. Diosdado Cabello, the number two of the Maduro regime, even threatened sanctions for people who stay at home during a campaign meeting. “Those who do not vote will not be fed,” he said. A far from subtle reference to the government’s CLAP food packages, on which many Venezuelans depend.
According to Luis Vicente Leon, Datánalisis director, about 15 percent of Venezuelans support President Maduro, some of them for fear of losing work and privileges, such as the food parcels.
65-year-old Miguel Angel Álvarez is not bothered by this. He’s not getting anything from the government. The former car painter lives in a shack along the highway. “I don’t get a food package, no pension, nothing at all.”
In this video, Álvarez tells how he survives, as does Roderick Tovar, who emigrated to Peru, but is now back in Venezuela due to corona:
–
