Guaidó hopes that Spain maintains its rejection of the elections
Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaidó said Saturday that he hopes the Spanish government will maintain its support for a peaceful solution to the pressing crisis in the Caribbean country, which tomorrow will hold legislative elections that some anti-Chavist groups reject.
"I have no doubts about the overwhelming rejection (of Spain to the elections) and the support in the search for a solution (to the crisis)," said Guaidó during a press conference with international media.
"They have said it, through free elections, so, basically, what I am doing is repeating what the Spanish government has already said in this sense, and I am sure that on Monday there will be very clear pronouncements of rejection (to the elections) from Europe," he added.
Spain rejects these elections
At the end of November, the Spanish Ministry of Foreign Affairs reiterated that it "does not recognize" either the "regime" of Nicolás Maduro or the parliamentary elections scheduled for December 6, for "not guaranteeing basic democratic principles.
The Spanish Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs and Ibero-America, Cristina Gallach, established this position during her appearance in the Ibero-American Affairs Committee of the Spanish Senate, in which she presented the general lines of her department.
"The Spanish government has been very strict with the issue of rejecting tomorrow's (electoral) process, I think they were even among the first," Guaidó continued Saturday, who is recognized by 50 countries as interim president.
He also said that he has met "with all the fractions" that make up the Spanish Parliament, while he considered that the European country is the "most important" ally he has in his fight to force a change of government in Venezuela.
New call to boycott the elections
In addition, the opponent reiterated his rejection of the elections, while making a new call to boycott them. "The call to Venezuelans is to stay at home (...), tomorrow is a day to show rejection, repudiation (of the Nicolás Maduro Government)," he said.
More than 20.7 million Venezuelans are called to the polls this Sunday, December 6, to renew the unicameral Parliament of Venezuela, the only power that controls the opposition.
As a response to the election, Guaidó called for a popular consultation, to be held between December 7 and 12, and in which citizens will respond if they reject the parliamentary elections, demand "the end of the usurpation" of the Presidency by Nicolás Maduro and "order" the necessary steps to "rescue" democracy.
Guaidó said today that participating in this consultation will be a "challenge" to Maduro's government, which he described as a "dictatorship", and predicted the persecution, in the coming days, of the opposition leaders who promote this mechanism.
Venezuela returns to the ballot box sunk in extreme poverty
Venezuela arrives this Sunday, December 6, at a legislative election that, beyond the questions about its transparency, will be held in the midst of a very serious crisis that has 80% of the citizens in a situation of extreme poverty.
The National Electoral Council (CNE) has assured that the machinery is ready to carry out these elections that also coincide with the coronavirus pandemic, which has left 912 dead in the South American country.
The scenario
A little more than 20 million Venezuelans are called to choose 277 deputies among some 14,400 candidates. The traditional leaders of the opposition are not included in this range of candidates, since they chose to abstain from participating in these elections because they considered them fraudulent.
Even though the big names of the opposition will not go to the elections, some of their parties, intervened by the Supreme Court of Justice (TSJ), will.
After the intervention, the Supreme Court appointed as party leaders former militants expelled from the organizations and accused of corruption by their former colleagues, leaving aside those politicians who had led them until that moment.
The votes will not be recognized by the European Union (EU) or the Organization of American States (OAS) and, according to projections, abstention will be the protagonist of the contest.
Economic Crisis
96% of Venezuelans are in poverty, according to the same estimates that say 80% live in misery and must endure the daily problems of the crisis, such as power failures, fuel shortages, drinking water and domestic gas or the depletion of health services, transportation and internet.
The oil country, furthermore, accumulates this year an inflation of 3,045.92% while its currency, the Bolivar, devalues almost daily against the US dollar, the currency with which most commercial operations in Venezuela are completed.
Only in November, the bolivar depreciated 50.90% against the dollar.
In addition, the legal minimum wage, earned by some 10 million workers and pensioners, remains at 400,000 bolivars per month - that is, less than 40 cents on the dollar - while a family needs about $300 to cover the most basic expenses.
The result
Those who win tomorrow will occupy their seats from January 5, 2021, when the new National Assembly (NA, Parliament) is constituted. This new assembly will dispute international recognition with the current House of Representatives, which has a strong majority in opposition and is led by Juan Guaidó.
The deputies that support Guaidó, recognized as interim president of Venezuela by some 50 countries, have said that they will give continuity to his efforts despite the fact that the Constitution establishes that his term ends in five years, and they were invested in January 2016.
The government, for its part, developed an intense political campaign that violated the health measures of the pandemic by including numerous multitudinous concentrations that counted with the participation of representatives of the Executive.
The Venezuelan President, Nicolás Maduro, headed several proselytizing acts and proposed, in the final stretch of the campaign, that he would leave the Presidency if the opposition won the Parliament again, a scenario practically impossible due to the configuration of the electoral process.
electoral.