On Sunday, Venezuela held elections for all 167 seats in its National Assembly. The opposition coalition, the United Democratic Roundtable (MUD), captured a majority, but as of midday on Monday, we don’t yet know how big that majority will be because some races were initially declared too close to call.
Venezuela’s political opposition rode a wave of economic discontent in Sunday’s elections to win the majority of legislative seats for the first time in 16 years. It’s a historic shift for the oil-rich nation that’s spent the past nearly two decades under a socialist regime that had few checks on its power.
In the past three weeks Latin American leaders have spoken out expressing their concerns over electoral conditions in Venezuela. While welcome, these individual voices don’t equal a larger institutional voice that can threaten sanctions if things should go awry in Venezuela.
In the run-up to the Venezuelan legislative elections on December 6th, 157 legislators from the United States, Brazil, Colombia, Chile, Costa Rica, and Peru sent a joint letter to President Nicolas Maduro.
On the campaign trail, Jimmy Morales skillfully avoided any details about his platform or policy plans. That vagueness has left a lot of questions about what President Morales will do in office: chief among them is whether he will continue the prosecutions against the military for human rights abuses.
The Guatemalan electorate has spoken, electing the political neophyte, Jimmy Morales, with no clear policy platform and a group of retired military officers with shady ties to the past behind him. The good news is Guatemalan civil society is mobilized and ready.
Todas las miradas en la Argentina están puestas en quién será el sucesor de Cristina Fernández de Kirchner a partir del 10 de diciembre de 2015. La pregunta va más allá de si habrá ballotage o no, la pregunta es: ¿Qué pasará después del 10 de Diciembre? Gane quien gane, el futuro de la economía Argentina dependerá de lo que haga el ganador cuando llegue a la Casa Rosada.
Los resultados de las elecciones primarias, abiertas, simultáneas y obligatorias (PASO) que se realizaron el 9 de agosto en la Argentina, dejaron al candidato único del oficialismo, Daniel Scioli, unos puntos por debajo de las aspiraciones de triunfar luego en la primera vuelta del próximo 25 de octubre. En dos meses la política argentina puede producir muchas novedades. Pero lo que está claro es que el escenario para la primera vuelta presidencial en este momento está abierto.
Venezuela’s recently announced legislative elections (in November or December this year) represent one of the last opportunities for the country (and the region) to find an exit to its political and economic deterioration.
