Venezuela's jubilant opposition vowed Monday to drag the oil-rich country out of its economic crisis and free political prisoners after winning control of congress from socialist President Nicolas Maduro. But analysts warned political uncertainty and possible struggles lie ahead as the MUD coalition, with its moral figurehead Lilian Tintori, seeks to push its advantage against the mustachioed president whose side has been in power for 16 years.
Despite his fiery campaign rhetoric, Maduro promptly conceded defeat in Sunday's legislative election and called for "coexistence" between the opposition and his PSUV party, which lost control of the National Assembly for the first time since 1999. That seemed aimed at calming tensions after warnings of a repeat of last year's deadly riots that left 43 people dead. The boiling tension of the past weeks of campaigning subsided into caution as Tintori and senior MUD leader Jesus Torrealba vowed their side did not want "revenge" or violence.
"We have an immense responsibility," Torrealba said in an interview broadcast online. His mostly center-right coalition won at least 99 of the 167 seats in the assembly, the state electoral authority said, with 46 for the PSUV. "What happened yesterday was an electoral tsunami, but a vote of confidence is one thing and a blank check is something else," Torrealba added.
He said the MUD now had to "reinvent" itself to "deal with the crisis." Tintori, the activist and wife of jailed opposition leader Leopoldo Lopez, appeared smiling in world newspapers Monday as she celebrated with supporters. "I will not rest until all political prisoners are freed," she said. "This is a historic day for Venezuela." International powers who have lobbied for change in Venezuela hailed the result.
US Secretary of State John Kerry said it showed an "overwhelming desire for a change" in Venezuela. EU foreign affairs chief Federica Mogherini called it a "vote for change" and a call for "constructive political efforts to address together the challenges ahead." Cuban President Raul Castro consoled Maduro, the successor of Cuba's old ally Hugo Chavez who launched Venezuela's socialist "revolution" in 1998 in the spirit of independence hero Simon Bolivar.
"I am certain that new victories will come to the Bolivarian Revolution," Castro wrote in Cuban state newspaper Granma. Some political analysts wonder whether Sunday's result could be part of a broader rightward political shift in Latin America. Argentines last month voted out their leftist president Cristina Kirchner and Brazilian leader Dilma Rousseff's leadership is in crisis. Reassured by Sunday's peaceful election, Argentina's conservative president-elect Mauricio Macri dropped his earlier threat to try to have Venezuela suspended from the Mercosur trade bloc.
Comments
Comments are closed.