CARACAS, (Reuters) – Venezuela’s ruling Socialist Party yesterday inaugurated a parliament controlled by allies of President Nicolas Maduro, while the opposition convened a rival committee of legislators in a virtual session, following disputed elections on Dec. 6.
The opposition, led by speaker Juan Guaido, had boycotted the vote, widely considered fraudulent by Maduro adversaries and many Western countries. On Dec. 26, the opposition-controlled parliament approved a statute extending its term into 2021.
But it was Socialist Party lawmakers and allies who physically occupied the legislative palace on Tuesday, walking towards it from a nearby plaza, carrying photos of late President Hugo Chavez and founding father Simon Bolivar.
The shift marks a formal consolidation of power for Maduro, who in early 2019 looked vulnerable as the United States and dozens of other countries recognized Guaido as Venezuela’s rightful leader.
“You are examples for the world of how democracy should be exercised,” said Jorge Rodriguez, former information minister, who was named president of the new Socialist Party-run National Assembly and swore in 227 lawmakers. “We are here by constitutional mandate.”
Security forces blocked off nearby roads.
The ceremony marked the symbolic end of the opposition’s five-year struggle to weaken Maduro after it won a 2015 landslide victory in parliamentary elections.
But control of parliament will give Maduro’s allies little capacity to improve a crippled economy hemmed in by U.S. sanctions. And the pro-government supreme court had in any case for years hamstrung opposition legislators by shooting down every one of their measures.
“I am not aware of the assembly, I am working to solve my problems,” said Maria Rojas, 49, who works in the Caracas mayor’s office. “God is the only one who can solve the situation.”
The outgoing administration of U.S. President Donald Trump has recognized the Venezuelan opposition’s extension of its own term.
“President Guaido and the National Assembly are the only democratic representatives of the Venezuelan people as recognized by the international community,” U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said in a statement on Tuesday.
“They should be freed from Maduro’s harassment, threats, persecution, and other abuses.”
Lima Group, a regional bloc comprised mostly of Latin American nations, said on Tuesday it does not “recognize the legitimacy or legality of the National Assembly installed on January 5” in Venezuela, describing the Dec. 6 elections as “fraudulent”.
The statement from Lima Group was co-signed by Brazil, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras, Paraguay and Peru.
Other international supporters of Guaido, including the European Union, have yet to say if they agree if the opposition still rightfully controls parliament.
