Venezuela Votes for Change After 16 Years of "Chavismo"

Scott MacDonald

Politics, Americas

A surprising victory for the long-time opposition party has brought Venezuelan politics into uncharted terrain.

The December 6 election for the 167 seats in Venezuela’s National Assembly has come and gone. For the first time since 1999, the ruling left-wing coalition represented by the United Socialist Party of Venezuela (Partido Socialista Unido de Venezuela, or PSUV) lost. The opposition Democratic Unity Roundtable (Mesa de la Unidad Democrática, or MUD) won ninety-nine seats, to the PSUV’s forty-six. There are still twenty-two undecided seats, the result of close votes. With a voter turnout of 74 percent, it appears that the Venezuelan people have spoken and they want change.

Venezuela has entered a new political landscape. In the election’s aftermath, momentum is with the MUD, a broad left-right coalition that was formed in 2008. Although the MUD has managed to maintain unity in the face of considerable government heavy-handedness though several elections, success at the ballot box has eluded it until now.

What a difference an election makes. When the MUD enters the next legislation session, it is likely to attempt securing the release of political prisoners, a relaxation of press controls and an escape for Venezuela from the economic cul-de-sac where the late president Hugo Chávez and his hapless successor Nicolás Maduro have parked it. There is also talk about a recount of the contentious 2013 presidential election, in which Maduro squeaked home with a 50.8 percent majority.

Maduro’s presidency has been marked by economic near-collapse, a deterioration in personal safety—Venezuela ranks as one of the most deadly countries in the world in terms of violent crime—and a ready willingness of the president to blame every problem on a conspiracy of local capitalists and their allies, the United States and the European Union. The economy is in a second year of recession, driven by the drastic fall in oil prices—down over 50 percent since mid-2014. According to the International Monetary Fund, the Venezuelan economy contracted by 4.0 percent last year and is expected to shrink at an even steeper rate this year—and again in 2016.