Will Venezuela’s Latest Fraudulent Election Spur the European Union to Act?

Will Venezuela’s Latest Fraudulent Election Spur the European Union to Act?
Carlos Ocariz, the opposition candidate for governor of Miranda state, yells out “Let’s go!” as he walks hand-in-hand with his stepdaughter to a polling station, Caracas, Venezuela, Oct. 15, 2017 (AP photo by Fernando Llano).

After months of delays, polling booths finally opened in Venezuela last Sunday for gubernatorial elections in each of the country’s 23 states. Accusations of fraud have already marred the results, as candidates backed by President Nicolas Maduro and his regime won an overwhelming majority of seats despite poor polling numbers that pointed to an opposition victory.

Candidates with the opposition coalition have demanded an electoral audit in every state, citing cases of voter intimidation, repeat ballots and nonfunctioning polling booths. The opposition’s failure to turn the tide on the regional level looks like a major political loss, but the situation may have greater international consequences. Such transparently fraudulent elections have raised the possibility of more international economic sanctions on Caracas in response.

Maduro’s United Socialist Party controlled 20 states going into Sunday’s election and retained 17 despite economic policies that have resulted in national food, medicine and oil shortages, as well as an inflation rate over 700 percent—the worst worldwide. Protests spurred by hunger or even frustration with elections themselves, given the state of Venezuela’s crisis, have been met with tear gas, gunfire and imprisonment.

Keep reading for free!

Get instant access to the rest of this article by submitting your email address below. You'll also get access to three articles of your choice each month and our free newsletter:

Or, Subscribe now to get full access.

Already a subscriber? Log in here .

What you’ll get with an All-Access subscription to World Politics Review:

A WPR subscription is like no other resource — it’s like having a personal curator and expert analyst of global affairs news. Subscribe now, and you’ll get:

  • Immediate and instant access to the full searchable library of tens of thousands of articles.
  • Daily articles with original analysis, written by leading topic experts, delivered to you every weekday.
  • Regular in-depth articles with deep dives into important issues and countries.
  • The Daily Review email, with our take on the day’s most important news, the latest WPR analysis, what’s on our radar, and more.
  • The Weekly Review email, with quick summaries of the week’s most important coverage, and what’s to come.
  • Completely ad-free reading.

And all of this is available to you when you subscribe today.

More World Politics Review