Venezuela's outgoing National Assembly on Thursday tapped a judge who is hated by the opposition for jailing politician Leopoldo Lopez as the next human rights ombudsman in the increasingly hostile aftermath of legislative elections.
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.
Venezuela's fragile opposition coalition which managed to come together to achieve victory over the Chavista government on Sunday, now faces the test of trying to stick together and use its newly won congressional authority to address the country’s deep economic problems and political rifts.
Venezuela's opposition won control of the National Assembly by a landslide, delivering a major setback to the ruling party and altering the balance of power after almost 17 years of populist rule.
Next Friday Argentine president elect Mauricio Macri will be travelling to Brasilia to meet with president Dilma Rousseff, which will be the incoming leader's first overseas trip.
The Venezuelan government sought Monday to downplay security fears around the country's upcoming legislative elections, rejecting the possibility of violence or a coup. With polls showing President Nicolas Maduro's populist movement on track for a landmark defeat by the opposition in Sunday's vote, speculation and rumors have swirled about possible violence or moves by the ruling party to cling to power.
The following open letter from the Organization of American States Secretary General Luis Almagro was addressed to president Nicolás Maduro regarding the pre-electoral climate in Venezuela, which is holding legislative elections next Sunday in very questionable and controversial conditions for opposition candidates.
An electoral mission of the Union of South American Nations (Unasur), the body in charge of monitoring Venezuela’s upcoming elections on December 6, called on the authorities in Caracas to immediately launch a thorough investigation into the death of an opposition politician at a rally, barely two weeks before crucial parliamentary elections.
Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro said Thursday the fatal shooting of an opposition leader appeared to be a gangland score-settling dismissing claim it was politically motivated ahead of elections. An attacker shot Luis Manuel Diaz dead on Wednesday evening in the central Guarico region at a campaign rally for the December 6 legislative elections, party officials said, ratcheting up fears that violence could erupt in the lead-up to the polls.
The Organization of American States (OAS), secretary general Luis Almagro condemned the killing in Venezuela of an opposition leader during a political rally ahead of the 6 December legislative election, and called for an immediate end to violence in the country.