CRS INSIGHT
Venezuelan Opposition Wins December 2015 Legislative
Elections
December 7, 2015 (IN10404)
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Related Policy Issue
Latin America and the Caribbean
Related Author
Mark P. Sullivan
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Mark P. Sullivan, Specialist in Latin American Affairs
(msullivan@crs.loc.gov, 7-7689)
Venezuela's opposition coalition, known as the Democratic Unity Roundtable (MUD), triumphed in the country's
December 6, 2015, legislative elections over the ruling United Socialist Party of Venezuela (PSUV) of current
President Nicolás Maduro. The MUD won at least 99 seats out of the 167-member unicameral National Assembly
compared to 46 seats for the PSUV. This gives the opposition at least a simple majority (84 seats). However, 22 seats
are still to be determined, so that the opposition is likely to achieve a three-fifths majority (101 seats), which would
give it additional powers, including the ability to remove ministers from office and overturn enabling laws that give the
president decree powers. Achieving a two-thirds majority (112 seats) would give the opposition even more powers,
including the ability to convene a Constituent Assembly to rewrite the constitution. The election included 113 seats
chosen by simple majority in specific districts, 51 seats by proportional representation by party list in Venezuela's states
and capital district, and 3 indigenous representatives. The election results were a major defeat for Chavismo, the
populist leftist movement originally led by former President Hugo Chávez, who succumbed to cancer in 2013.
The elections were held in a difficult political and economic environment. Under the ruling PSUV of former President
Chávez (1999-2013) and current President Maduro (who was narrowly elected in 2013),
democratic practices have
deteriorated and human rights violations have increased. The government has actively sought to limit the political rights
of the opposition through imprisonment of opposition leaders and activists, the use of the judiciary for political
purposes, and the suppression of freedom of speech and expression. In 2014, Venezuelan security forces and militant
pro-government civilian groups violently suppressed protests, with at least 43 people killed on both sides of the
conflict, and more than 800 injured. The rapid decline in the price of oil since mid-2014 has hit Venezuela hard,
contributing to economic contraction, high inflation, a decline in international reserves, and increased poverty. The
International Monetary Fund is projecting that the economy will contract 10% in 2015 and inflation will be well above
100%. Economic mismanagement and corruption have contributed to the country's dismal economic situation.
Ahead of the legislative elections, the MUD was running far ahead in the polls, ranging from almost 19 to 30 percentage
points, and it campaigned on an agenda to release political prisoners and efforts to stimulate the ailing economy. The
MUD includes some two dozen parties across the political spectrum. The largest of these include Justice First (PJ), the
party of the MUD's 2012 and 2013 presidential candidate, Henrique Capriles; Popular Will (VP), whose party founder,
Leopoldo López, was imprisoned in February 2014 and sentenced in September 2015 to almost 14 years in prison for
allegedly inciting violence and other charges (a conviction that was criticized worldwide); A New Era (UNT); and
Democratic Action (AD).
The opposition faced significant disadvantages in the legislative elections as chronicled in the press and by the
International Crisis Group and the
Washington Office on Latin America. On November 10, the Secretary General of the
Organization of American States (OAS), Luis Almagro, published a letter to the head of Venezuela's National Electoral
Council, expressing strong criticism about the level of transparency and electoral justice ahead of the elections. He
asserted that the opposition operated on an uneven playing field that included the government's use of state resources
for campaign purposes; the disqualification of seven opposition candidates; the judiciary's investigation of opposition
political parties; and government actions that diminished freedom of the press and expression.
In a disturbing development before the elections, Luis Manuel Díaz, an AD opposition leader, was assassinated at a
public meeting in the state of Guarico on November 25. The State Department
condemned the killing and noted that it
was the deadliest of several recent attacks and acts of intimidation aimed at opposition candidates. The OAS Secretary
General called for an end to violence in Venezuela and for the "disarmament of any armed civilian group, in particular
those that depend on the government or the party of the government."
Venezuela had rejected any international election observation missions, including from the OAS and the European
Union. Instead, it agreed to a delegation from the Union of South American Nations (UNASUR) led by former
Dominican Republic President Leonel Fernández to "accompany" the vote. The opposition had little faith in the group.
Brazil had pulled out of the delegation because Venezuela rejected a former Brazilian Supreme Court Justice from
heading the team. In the absence of international observers, electoral observation by
Venezuelan domestic groups such
as the Observatorio Electoral Venezolano were all the more important.
U.S. Policy and Congressional Concerns
U.S. policymakers and Members of Congress have had concerns for over a decade about the deterioration of human
rights and democratic conditions in Venezuela. In 2014, Congress responded to the Venezuelan government's harsh
crackdown on protests by enacting the Venezuela Defense of Human Rights and Civil Society Act of 2014 (P.L. 113-
278) requiring the President to impose sanctions against those responsible for certain human rights abuses, although the
measure included presidential waiver authority.
After a UNASUR-sponsored dialogue between the government and the opposition failed, the Obama Administration
imposed visa restrictions in July 2014 and February 2015 on more than 50 current or former Venezuelan officials
involved in human rights abuses. In March 2015, President Obama issued an executive order setting forth the authority
for additional sanctions and imposed financial sanctions on seven Venezuelan officials for human rights abuses. The
Administration has continued to speak out against human rights abuses in Venezuela, including the
conviction of
Leopoldo López.
On November 11, 2015, a bipartisan group of 18 U.S. Senators joined 139 legislators from several Latin American
countries to send a letter to President Maduro expressing concerns about Venezuela's upcoming elections and calling
for the government to permit international observers. Other Members have spoken out in support of the efforts of the
OAS Secretary General, and on November 6, the House Foreign Affairs Committee's Subcommittee on the Western
Hemisphere held a hearing that focused on the human rights situation in Venezuela.
For background, see CRS In Focus IF10230,
Venezuela: U.S. Policy Overview, and CRS Report R43239,
Venezuela:
Background and U.S. Relations.