Venezuela opposition parties end three years of boycotting elections
Venezuela’s main opposition parties have announced an end to three years of boycotting elections in a move praised by President Nicolas Maduro as “worthy of applause” for returning to democracy.
The country’s opposition alliance, the so-called Democratic Unity Roundtable (MUD), which is led by the US-sponsored opposition figure Juan Guaido, announced on Tuesday that it would participate in the regional and municipal elections scheduled for November 21.
The MUD, however, said its participation would not mean it believed the elections would be free or fair.
The alliance boycotted the 2018 presidential vote, which Maduro won, and the 2020 legislative elections, in which the opposition lost control of Congress. In both cases, it dismissed the elections as “fraudulent.” Its decision to end the boycott comes as government and opposition representatives are involved in talks, mediated by Norway and hosted by Mexico.
The talks, which began last month, are aimed at resolving the political crisis that plagued the Latin American country after Guaido unilaterally declared himself “interim president” in January 2019.
Maduro welcomed the opposition’s announcement as “worthy of applause,” saying that the “popular sovereignty has been reimposed.”
“I will sit in my armchair with popcorn on November 21 to watch Juan Guaido vote,” he said in a televised speech on Tuesday. “And there, I will applaud because we managed to include him in democracy again.”
Guaido, whose political influence has steadily waned, once again alleged on Tuesday that “there are no conditions or guarantees for a free and fair election.”
Guaido was absent when other opposition figures announced the decision to end the boycott at a Caracas news conference.
Another opposition figure calls for ‘coexistence’ with Maduro
Opposition figure Freddy Guevara has called on Maduro’s adversaries to seek “coexistence” with the ruling Socialist Party rather than attempting to force a change in government.
“For years, one of the sides has felt strong and has believed it could smash or completely displace the other,” Guevara said. “This dynamic, this vicious circle, has to stop… We need a process of coexistence.”
Meanwhile, representatives of the government and the opposition are preparing for three days of negotiations starting on Thursday.
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