The Economist - USA (2020-11-28)

TheEconomistNovember 28th 2020 27

1

“W

e aregoing to rescue the National

Assembly,” sing Chucho y Omar

Acedo, a pop duo hired by the Venezuelan

regime to drum up enthusiasm for the

forthcoming parliamentary election. Their

catchy ode to the government, broadcast

repeatedly on state media, makes it seem

simple. “A future with greatness is arriving

...Happiness and hope are returning,” the

band chants, to a Latin beat.

The first claim is probably correct. The

National Assembly is the one branch of

government still controlled by the opposi-

tion to the authoritarian regime of Nicolás

Maduro. In an election due to be held on

December 6th the socialist ruling party, the

psuv, will dislodge it. The regime has taken

steps to ensure that it cannot lose. It has ce-

mented its control over the National Elec-

toral Council (cne).

Pop musicians are not the only means

of ensuring that turnout will be high and

pro-regime. “I don’t want to vote but I have

to because of my work,” says an employee

of the tourism ministry. She intends to cast

her ballot for the psuvbecause she as-

sumes it is not secret and fears losing her

job if she shows disloyalty. Most of the op-

position is boycotting the election, on the

grounds that it will be fixed. A last-ditch at-

tempt by the European Union to delay it by

six months to create conditions for a fair

election (like having a trustworthy cne)

came to nothing.

Although the result is preordained, the

vote will matter. The regime’s takeover of

the National Assembly will be a big step in

its march towards full dictatorship. It will

strip Juan Guaidó of his job as the legisla-

ture’s president. As the holder of that office

he claims to be Venezuela’s rightful presi-

dent, on the grounds that Mr Maduro won

re-election fraudulently in 2018. That claim

is recognised by more than 50 countries,

including the United States, several large

Latin American democracies and nearly all

eumembers.

Mr Guaidó will lose the speakership just

before Joe Biden assumes the presidency of

the United States, on January 20th. The

new American administration and its part-

ners will have to reconsider their approach

to restoring democracy to Venezuela.

The opposition’s current hold on the

legislature came about by accident. In 2015

Venezuela’s “Bolivarian” regime, in power

for 16 years, was so convinced that it would

win the election held that year it did not

cheat enough to secure victory. It lost in a

landslide, especially in the poor barrios

that were once its stronghold. Venezuelans

rightly blamed Mr Maduro for a severe re-

cession (which was about to get much

worse), high inflation (soon to become hy-

perinflation) and shortages of basic goods.

The coalition of opposition parties that

won control of the legislature should have

been able to check the regime. But Mr Ma-

duro, while recognising its victory, ignored

its consequences. The puppet supreme

court vetoed all the laws passed by the leg-

islature. Eventually, he replaced it with a

rubber-stamp Constituent Assembly.

Parliament remained a threat to the re-

gime, especially after Mr Maduro began a

second six-year term in 2019. His rigged re-

Venezuela

They’re going to win, by a lot

CARACAS

The regime will rig December’s parliamentary election

The Americas

28 DiegoMaradonadies

30 Bello: The future of bolsonarismo

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