Venezuelan opposition parties announced Tuesday they will participate in the regional and municipal elections scheduled for November, reversing ground from their previous boycotts of recent balloting.
By AP News
Aug 31, 2021
The announcement came days before the opposition and the government of President Nicolás Maduro are expected to meet in Mexico City to continue negotiations on finding a common path out of Venezuela’s political standoff. Both sides agreed to discuss electoral matters as part of the dialogue, which officially began earlier this month.
The agenda that representatives of Maduro and the opposition agreed for the negotiations contemplates election observers, a renunciation of violence, reparations for victims of violence, social and economic measures and the lifting of international sanctions, which have been imposed on the state oil company, government leaders and others.
The regional and municipal elections are scheduled for Nov. 21.
The opposition parties grouped in the so-called “Unitary Platform” and led by Juan Guaidó boycotted previous elections, including the re-election of Maduro as president in May 2018, arguing that Venezuela lacks the conditions for free and just contests.
The group decided to participate in the upcoming elections after a “difficult internal deliberation,” motivated by the serious challenges facing the country and the “urgency to find permanent solutions,” according to a statement.
Millions of Venezuelans live in poverty amid low wages and high food prices resulting from the world’s worst inflation rate and irregular dollarization of the economy. The food assistance agency of the United Nations has estimated that one of every three Venezuelans is struggling to consume enough daily calories.
The country’s political, social and economic crises, attributed to plummeting oil prices and two decades of government mismanagement, have continued to deepen with the pandemic.
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