MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency
It's official: Venezuelan opposition wins a two thirds majority in the legislature
Venezuela said the opposition coalition MUD has won a two-thirds super majority in the country’s legislature, a major victory in Sunday’s elections. Read full article
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Dec 09th, 2015 - 09:19 am - Link - Report abuse 0Uh oh...
Dec 09th, 2015 - 10:08 am - Link - Report abuse 0“ President Nicolás Maduro could be facing a powerful legislature with the ability to fire ministers and the vice president, name Supreme Court justices and launch recall referendums. It’s a significant blow to Maduro after 17 years of socialist rule.”
After 17 years of socialism and Chavism, Maduro has fumbled the ball and blown the whole Bolivarian shooting match!!
That's what you get when you put a bus driver in charge of a Petro State, instead of a real Dictator!!
I am waiting to see how this plays out over the next few weeks before opening the Champagne.
Dec 10th, 2015 - 01:50 am - Link - Report abuse 0Remember that the new AN Members aren't sworn-in' until Jan. 2016, which gives the Chavistas plenty of time to pull a few stunts...
I advise caution. Cornered rats tend to bite, often even each-other, but certainly what threatens them.
3
Dec 10th, 2015 - 03:50 am - Link - Report abuse 0I know he's still dangerous.
I'm just pleased that he can no longer claim legitimacy - his credibility and the charade have been dealt a severe blow.
Last night, Maduro suggested that he might not want to build homes for the poor as punishment for the election defeat. Here is what he said translated into English:
Dec 10th, 2015 - 04:28 am - Link - Report abuse 0“I wanted to build 500,000 homes next year. I’m doubting that now. It’s not because I can’t build them, because I can, but I asked for your support and you didn’t give it to me.”
Here is a video of his statement.
“Nicolás Maduro: ”Tengo en duda construir viviendas, porque pedí tu apoyo y no me lo diste“”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BmsQm05-Zto
What a shameful thing for him to say, don't you agree?
Also: the Web and Print media is rife with rumours/hearsay/leaks and even some actual FACTUAL REPORTS that the military prevented a 'self-coup' and/or tampering with the ballot boxes.
A small but significative fact that most people didn't notice. On Sunday night, Tibisay Lucena, (Head the National Electoral Commission - CNE, and an overpromoted Chavista loyalist), never declared that the elections had concluded. She announced - the (illegal) one hour extension of the opening hours in 'puestos de votación', actually “until 7 or whenever there are still voters in line”, following as usual the government's diktat- a little before 6 in the afternoon and then disappeared until past midnight, to announce the first results boletín.
It was Padrino Lopez, (Military Chief and Defence Minister) -in army fatigues, and with his highest officers by his side- who showed up on public, (govt.) TV to announce that the Plan Patria had been closed at 9.45, adding that no public demonstrations were allowed until Monday at 6 in the afternoon.
So it doesn't take a lot of imagination to see who decided what....and when.
Nearing word-count limit. Bump for more, if interested.
ilsen x
continue please!
Dec 10th, 2015 - 05:08 am - Link - Report abuse 0:-)
Dec 10th, 2015 - 05:39 am - Link - Report abuse 0cont.
Just a little background for any new readers.
Venezuela's economic crisis predates the oil price drop. The price drop worsened conditions. Chavista propaganda insists the problem is caused by “economic war”. However, Venezuela had 54% inflation and 30% scarcity at the end of 2013 with the oil at $90. We are now looking at 200% inflation, 60% Scarcity of 'basket of goods' and the black-market US$ at 800 BSF, (compared to the 'official rate of US$/6BSF - yes 6 vs. 800!)
Anything you have in Venezuela, including your liberty, could be removed from you at the arbitrary whim of the government. I have personal experience of this.
Meanwhile, back to the topic:
It is becoming much clearer that the opposition have Defense Minister General Vladimir Padrino to thank for preserving the election result. Maduro and Diosdado Cabello were calling to suspend the election but Padrino said the military would not go along with it. Much more here...
http://www.elnuevoherald.com/noticias/mundo/america-latina/venezuela-es/article48522010.html
In English, just click 'translate'.
The leaks about these meetings are coming from different sources in the FAN, (National Armed Forces), and the Ministerio de Defensa. It may well be that the opposition to Diosdado, (the 'Power behind the Throne' and USA blacklisted for narco-traffiking and Human Rights Abuses), and Maduro came from a genuine desire to avoid massive bloodshed or an ethical desire to respect the will of the people. Equally, it may be that a number of people, seeing the writing on the wall, want to ensure that they do not become targets in any future criminal prosecutions. While the former altruistic motives may have driven the decision (I hope so, yet doubt it), the leaks certainly suggest some political acuity of self-preservation.
I'd love to publish some more of Maduro's post election comments, but word count is against me.
here is a teaser:
“The bad guys won, like the bad guys always do, through lies and fraud,” said
jeez.. c'mon, more....
Dec 10th, 2015 - 08:29 am - Link - Report abuse 0If I could ask CFK and Maduro one question it would be : 'What do you think about democracy so far?' The two of them threw that word around like it was dice over the years.
Dec 10th, 2015 - 12:05 pm - Link - Report abuse 0Commenting for this story is now closed.
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