The opposition has won the Venezuelan parliamentary elections by a landslide. - Polidicks

[QUOTE] The opposition in Venezuela has won a majority of seats in the National Assembly, overturning nearly two decades of dominance by the Socialists of President Nicolas Maduro. Five hours after polling ended, the National Electoral Council announced the opposition had won 99 seats. The Socialists have gained 46 seats, with another 22 yet to be declared. [/QUOTE] Source: [url]http://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-35019111[/url] I've been waiting almost 17 years for this. I have no words.

this is good right,.?

[QUOTE=theevilldeadII;49262942]this is good right,.?[/QUOTE] This is literally the best possible result that may have come out of this.

¡Felicidades, ya era hora! :D Congrats guys, time to tell Maduro to GTFO!

Do you think it'll be a peaceful transition or Maduro is going to take it as a chance to blame western imperialists

One can't help but wonder of all the changes Venezuela will go through now, for good

[QUOTE=theevilldeadII;49262942]this is good right,.?[/QUOTE] Maduro was basically a dictator that created toilet paper shortages.

Feels like just another step in the endless back and forth historical struggle between left and right in south America. Where's that Ben garrison picture 'March of tyranny'?

[QUOTE=Dr.C;49262957]Do you think it'll be a peaceful transition or Maduro is going to take it as a chance to blame western imperialists[/QUOTE] Absolutely not. The opposition has won here in Argentina, and Cristina Kirchner is acting like a petulant child about it. She could give Trump a run for his money anytime, that's how fucking insufferable she is. Can't wait until she LEAVES.

[QUOTE=theevilldeadII;49262942]this is good right,.?[/QUOTE] Its good. But it depends if Maduro leaves without doing anything. I wouldn't be surprised if there was a coup.

And actually, the newly elected president, Macri, told Maduro that his people are not 'enemies', they're venezuelans begging for a change.

[QUOTE=Conscript;49262973]Feels like just another step in the endless back and forth historical struggle between left and right in south America. Where's that Ben garrison picture 'March of tyranny'?[/QUOTE] The opposition is left aligned, they're generally more left than the Democrats. The main thing is, they don't want the Chavez idea of socialism, and they want to get rid of the horrible distortions that system has made. The opposition is also a bloc of about 10 parties. Once a new president is elected, the bloc will separate again. [QUOTE=Dr.C;49262957]Do you think it'll be a peaceful transition or Maduro is going to take it as a chance to blame western imperialists[/QUOTE] Oh not at all, it will be rocky, but it's amazing how much stuff has backfired for Maduro. They had so many advantages on this election and yet they actually got less deputies than what the opposition got in 2010 against Chavez. Starting next year though, things will start to get better for Venezuela.

I'll have to ask my Venezuelan co-worker how he feels about this.

Oh no! Looks like you're fantasy of Venezuela being some undemocratic dictatorship isn't true! Just cry that it's undemocratic, that is, until you win.

I am so, so happy for you. Here in Argentina, Mauricio Macri won the elections, bringing an end to 12 years of kirchnerist rule. Looks like it's time for some change for South America. Be strong, brothers.

[QUOTE=Octavius;49263450]Oh no! Looks like you're fantasy of Venezuela being some undemocratic dictatorship isn't true! Just cry that it's undemocratic, that is, until you win.[/QUOTE] The bolivarian revolution is dead, and I hope it remains dead.

This is probably the best news I've heard all week. Venezuela has a long way to go for recovery but the fact that the majority of citizens are finally disillusioned with revolutionary socialism and are brave enough to demand change says a lot about the potential that country has for revitalization.

I haven't really followed Venezuelan politics since Chavez left (mostly cus of ISIS and European fugitive crisis being the focus here in Europe), could someone savvy or from Venezuela explain how this is a good thing? I figure anything going away from Chavez' course is a good thing but I'd like to know more.

Best of the lucks to you guys, I hope everything starts changing for the good instead of spiraling into corruption again.

[IMG]http://ichef-1.bbci.co.uk/news/624/cpsprodpb/0CF5/production/_87071330_7520f6fb-e8fe-49f6-b80d-a9be43b89180.jpg[/IMG] I can't get over this picture though

[QUOTE=Selek;49263873]I haven't really followed Venezuelan politics since Chavez left (mostly cus of ISIS and European fugitive crisis being the focus here in Europe), could someone savvy or from Venezuela explain how this is a good thing? I figure anything going away from Chavez' course is a good thing but I'd like to know more.[/QUOTE] Big Bang wrote this in another thread [QUOTE=Big Bang;49249533]so, because I'm sure the people who opened this thread are interested in the subject, I'm gonna offer a little explanation on what could happen this Sunday, and what are the consequences of each scenario. First of all, this Sunday, every Venezuelan is going to vote for 167 deputies, from 87 circuits, 60% of these circuits elect just one deputy, with the remaining, more populated ones elect either 2 or 3 in a mixed-member proportional representation format, that means, people vote both for a particular deputy and its party. Gerrymandering is a thing with this system, however, as circuits are established rather arbitrarily, and states (of which we have 23, which is a shitload considering we have less population and landmass than Florida) must necessarily have at least one deputy. Polls currently show that the government's approval rate is at an all time low, polls show that in many circuits that have historically voted for Chavez, on average, 70% of people polled think negatively of Maduro's administration, showing a clear trend of disenchantment within the Chavista voter base, which can easily be explained by the economic crisis that has affected Venezuela for the entire duration of Maduro's regime and how it's only got worse with every measure he has implemented. Current oil barrel prices are at $34, which is less than half of what it was at when Maduro took power, which has crippled the regime's usual technique of gaining votes right before the election through gifts for the general populace. A couple of scandals, including Maduro's relatives getting indicted in the US on drug charges, as well as the changing political landscape of Latin America have almost cemented this, there is just no time for the state. The reason why everyone seems so interested in this particular election, is because it is the last important election for the next couple of years, and this is therefore the very last moment the opposition has to wrestle power from Maduro's hands. If the opposition loses this, they lose the opportunity to call for Maduro's impeachment, and with the next presidential election being still 3 years away, this is a dire scenario for Venezuela. But the numbers seem solid, every single poll, even from agencies that have previously never given a single result other than clear wins for the Chavistas, have shown that the opposition is on it's way for a landslide victory, with PSUV, the government's party, only attaining 35% of the votes. For the very first time, many important figures in international politics are defending the opposition. And the government seems very well aware of this. Their campaign seems desperate, Maduro calls for winning "at all costs", a party called 'Min-Unidad', which is aligned with the government, is copying visual elements from the main opposition party (Mesa de la Unidad Democratica or MUD) in order to generate confusion among voters, and the government has started running ads that say the MUD will take away all the free stuff the government has given to people, on national television. They're scared, but have not been willing to compromise and negotiate with the opposition, which is worrying. So, there's 3 scenarios: 1) [B]The opposition gets 2/3rds of the deputies:[/B] This implies the near-instant demise of the Maduro administration. The opposition would be able to pass and revise laws, call for referendums to modify the constitution, without the government being able to intervene. Maduro currently has an enabling act granting him special powers, but this act expires on New Year's Eve, meaning that the opposition would be in the National Assembly in time to prevent another enabling act. They can also call for Maduro's impeachment by March 2016, when the second half of Maduro's presidential term is to begin. This is a very positive outcome for Venezuela as it would be the beginning of a new chapter in Venezuela's political history, however, militias and paramilitary groups aligned with Chavez may attempt to destabilize the country if such a result were to come this Sunday. [U]Likelyhood: low-medium[/U], this is a kind of very optimistic outcome the government is very unlikely to agree to. Since the state party controls every single power and institution, they are more than able to modify the results to prevent such a thing from happening. Unless, they are ready to step down. 2) [B]The opposition wins a majority lower than 2/3rds, or PSUV becomes a minority party:[/B] This is a very unsatisfactory result for both parties. The opposition would lack the power to do many things, but would have enough to directly oppose the government as it has intended to do for the past 17 years, and the government would most likely force a political deadlock, all while attempting to bypass the National Assembly in order to continue its autocratic, populist rule. Destabilization is not likely to occur right now with this result. [U]Likelihood: medium-high[/U], the polls show that people don't like Maduro more than they hate the opposition, and they most certainly love Chavez, but about a third of the population isn't really sure who to vote for. The opposition is likely to get a majority, PSUV is likely to not get many deputies, however, I think the remaining deputies will go to non-aligned parties that are against both the opposition and government. These parties are likely to agree with Maduro's impeachment, but unlikely to agree to necessary economic reforms the opposition wants. 3) [B]The government gets the majority:[/B] The polls were wrong somehow, and the government sweeps the election, retaining the spots in the National Assembly it already has. Destabilization is very likely to happen, as the overwhelming majority of Venezuelans are very unsatisfied with the current Assembly and the government, so we would likely see a repeat of the situation in 2014, only magnified as it would no longer involve just the major cities in Venezuela. It's very hard to predict what would happen after that, but it would most certainly not be good. [U]Likelihood: low[/U], this is a rather unlikely scenario that mostly means bad things for Venezuela, and it is really only possible through rigging the election. The government just lacks the popularity to get a majority in the Assembly again, the current one was elected under Chavez, and even then it could only get 96 deputies despite Chavez having 60% approval rate.[/QUOTE]

[QUOTE=Octavius;49263450]Oh no! Looks like you're fantasy of Venezuela being some undemocratic dictatorship isn't true! Just cry that it's undemocratic, that is, until you win.[/QUOTE] Yes, in fact, it is. Up until today, Venezuela was ruled entirely by the will of a single party, who owned every single facet of our politics. Now, since you clearly know jack about Venezuelan politics, and are just willing to evaluate how democratic Venezuela is in terms of one election, considering we've had 20 on the past 17 years of which the opposition has won less than 4, I'll give you a rundown as to why Venezuela isn't very democratic: [B]1) Political prisoners:[/B] The government jails with certain regularity members of the opposition, starting from it's very leaders, like Antonio Ledezma or Leopoldo Lopez, from democratically elected officers like mayor Daniel Ceballos, to just regular folk like Judge Afiuni who was just doing her job, or my cousin, arrested for protesting against the government. All of these people are being held without bail and without a fair trial, and on the particular case of Leopoldo Lopez, he was sentenced to 14 years of prison for something that isn't a crime. Have you perhaps seen Obama jailing Trump because he doesn't like him? [B]2) The dominance of PSUV:[/B] Up until today, EVERY SINGLE BRANCH OF GOVERNMENT, that is, the Executive, Legislative, Judicial, Electoral and Citizen branches were ruled by a single party. Additionally, every single government agency, institution and ministry have also been ruled by the will of a single party. This is called a de-facto single party state. This hegemony could be held indefinitely as the government used gifts and free stuff to coax the general population to work for them, while also coercing government employees that their jobs were at risk should the opposition win. They also forced government employees to write down the names of 10 people they would bring to vote, who then had to confirm they did so in tents set just a few hundred meters from the voting centers. Up until today, the government was able to completely ignore the will of the people, like when they did with the 2009 referendum, the last time the opposition has won decisively. Other than that, without a majority in the National Assembly, with the Supreme Tribunal of Justice completely in hands of the government, and even with the ombudsman and comptroller being aligned with the PSUV, the opposition could just not do a damn thing without an overwhelming victory like the one we got yesterday. [B]3) The government doesn't play fair:[/B] They do not follow their own rules. Up until the day of the election, important government figures were still campaigning, during the regular campaign they used public resources and affairs to campaign for PSUV, which is clearly against electoral laws, and implies a distinct advantage that the opposition does not have as they don't have access to any of those things. This can be corroborated by ex-presidents who were in attendance at the CNE yesterday, who's press credentials, by the way, were removed the moment they spoke about these issues in public. [B]4) The reason why the opposition won this is because they defended it:[/B] Don't you fucking dare think that this was only possible because the system is not rigged. The system COULD be rigged, with ease, the safeguards the opposition took to restore confidence in the electoral results were more than a year in the making. On the day of the election, the opposition employed over one hundred thousand witnesses to make sure everything was being done according to law, the biggest mobilization of this sort in Venezuela's history. And even then, there were many instances of electoral crimes, including National ID cards being printed on the day of the election, allegedly to allow voters to vote twice under a different ID. [B]5) These results are so overwhelming the government can't cover them up: [/B]This is the first time the government loses by such an absurd margin. On every past election, the results were much closer, and since they are much closer, they're much easier to manipulate, as it is not particularly difficult to make something like 250000 votes just, appear. You can't do the same with a 5 million vote difference. The fact that there's suffrage doesn't mean a country is democratic. Not at all.

that explains why they lost

The reason why they lost is because their economic policy was so absurdly twisted that even regular folk could see what was wrong with it. Maduro kept using this "economic war" angle, that the reason why his policies weren't working were because they were being actively sabotaged by the opposition, and the masses may have a kinda bad long term memory, but they definitely do remember that, just a couple of years ago, they had direct access to milk, eggs, toilet paper, cheese, meat and other products, without having to wait in line a particular day of the week for hours and hours due to government regulations. They know that the one thing that changed between then and now, was Maduro. Maduro made up a war, and he lost it.

[QUOTE=Big Bang;49264859]Yes, in fact, it is. Up until today, Venezuela was ruled entirely by the will of a single party, who owned every single facet of our politics. Now, since you clearly know jack about Venezuelan politics, and are just willing to evaluate how democratic Venezuela is in terms of one election, considering we've had 20 on the past 17 years of which the opposition has won less than 4, I'll give you a rundown as to why Venezuela isn't very democratic: [B]1) Political prisoners:[/B] The government jails with certain regularity members of the opposition, starting from it's very leaders, like Antonio Ledezma or Leopoldo Lopez, from democratically elected officers like mayor Daniel Ceballos, to just regular folk like Judge Afiuni who was just doing her job, or my cousin, arrested for protesting against the government. All of these people are being held without bail and without a fair trial, and on the particular case of Leopoldo Lopez, he was sentenced to 14 years of prison for something that isn't a crime. Have you perhaps seen Obama jailing Trump because he doesn't like him? [B]2) The dominance of PSUV:[/B] Up until today, EVERY SINGLE BRANCH OF GOVERNMENT, that is, the Executive, Legislative, Judicial, Electoral and Citizen branches were ruled by a single party. Additionally, every single government agency, institution and ministry have also been ruled by the will of a single party. This is called a de-facto single party state. This hegemony could be held indefinitely as the government used gifts and free stuff to coax the general population to work for them, while also coercing government employees that their jobs were at risk should the opposition win. They also forced government employees to write down the names of 10 people they would bring to vote, who then had to confirm they did so in tents set just a few hundred meters from the voting centers. Up until today, the government was able to completely ignore the will of the people, like when they did with the 2009 referendum, the last time the opposition has won decisively. Other than that, without a majority in the National Assembly, with the Supreme Tribunal of Justice completely in hands of the government, and even with the ombudsman and comptroller being aligned with the PSUV, the opposition could just not do a damn thing without an overwhelming victory like the one we got yesterday. [B]3) The government doesn't play fair:[/B] They do not follow their own rules. Up until the day of the election, important government figures were still campaigning, during the regular campaign they used public resources and affairs to campaign for PSUV, which is clearly against electoral laws, and implies a distinct advantage that the opposition does not have as they don't have access to any of those things. This can be corroborated by ex-presidents who were in attendance at the CNE yesterday, who's press credentials, by the way, were removed the moment they spoke about these issues in public. [B]4) The reason why the opposition won this is because they defended it:[/B] Don't you fucking dare think that this was only possible because the system is not rigged. The system COULD be rigged, with ease, the safeguards the opposition took to restore confidence in the electoral results were more than a year in the making. On the day of the election, the opposition employed over one hundred thousand witnesses to make sure everything was being done according to law, the biggest mobilization of this sort in Venezuela's history. And even then, there were many instances of electoral crimes, including National ID cards being printed on the day of the election, allegedly to allow voters to vote twice under a different ID. [B]5) These results are so overwhelming the government can't cover them up: [/B]This is the first time the government loses by such an absurd margin. On every past election, the results were much closer, and since they are much closer, they're much easier to manipulate, as it is not particularly difficult to make something like 250000 votes just, appear. You can't do the same with a 5 million vote difference. The fact that there's suffrage doesn't mean a country is democratic. Not at all.[/QUOTE] I hate to break it to you, but has the idea entered your mind that a government and nation being run by a majority party which is democratically elected is not dictatorial? I'm not denying Venezuela has problems (Like its economy, corruption, and bureaucracy), it certainly does. But it has never been some undemocratic dictatorship and those claims are just ludicrous propaganda. The Conservative party in the UK maintains a majority for their national government, is the UK now a de-facto dictatorship? I'd love to see legitimate and good sources for these claims of yours though. The government of Venezuela has not ignored the people. Up until recently it was supported by the majority of the people. But yes, your right, let's praise the righteous opposition which has great leaders who demand for such reasonable and democratic things like closing polling places and not allowing people to vote! Are we not going to mention that the Cart Center found the elections in Venezuela to be democratic? Do you really find it so ridiculous that the government was in fact properly elected multiple times? Perhaps the government has never covered up a loss, but it has, in reality, been close until now! You may not like it, but that's how it is. Venezuela is more democratic now than it ever was prior to Chavez or at the start of his leadership. The so called 'Pink Revolution' which is democratic through and through and this cannot be denied. This electoral victory IS only possible because because the system is not rigged like you say. Sure, the PSUV may not follow every rule and may be corrupt to some degree, but neither Venezuela nor the PSUV are dictatorial or non-democratic. This dictatorial Venezuela you talk about is, in reality, a fantasy. The fact that there's suffrage doesn't make a country democratic, but the fact that sometimes you don't win does not make it undemocratic. This is a fair victory for the opposition, and the PSUV certainly deserves this loss.

true democratic country that hires thugs to attack the opposition, that's totally what is going on over here

[QUOTE=Octavius;49265456]I hate to break it to you, but has the idea entered your mind that a government and nation being run by a majority party which is democratically elected is not dictatorial? I'm not denying Venezuela has problems (Like its economy, corruption, and bureaucracy), it certainly does. But it has never been some undemocratic dictatorship and those claims are just ludicrous propaganda. The Conservative party in the UK maintains a majority for their national government, is the UK now a de-facto dictatorship? I'd love to see legitimate and good sources for these claims of yours though. The government of Venezuela has not ignored the people. Up until recently it was supported by the majority of the people. But yes, your right, let's praise the righteous opposition which has great leaders who demand for such reasonable and democratic things like closing polling places and not allowing people to vote! Are we not going to mention that the Cart Center found the elections in Venezuela to be democratic? Do you really find it so ridiculous that the government was in fact properly elected multiple times? Perhaps the government has never covered up a loss, but it has, in reality, been close until now! You may not like it, but that's how it is. Venezuela is more democratic now than it ever was prior to Chavez or at the start of his leadership. The so called 'Pink Revolution' which is democratic through and through and this cannot be denied. This electoral victory IS only possible because because the system is not rigged like you say. Sure, the PSUV may not follow every rule and may be corrupt to some degree, but neither Venezuela nor the PSUV are dictatorial or non-democratic. This dictatorial Venezuela you talk about is, in reality, a fantasy. The fact that there's suffrage doesn't make a country democratic, but the fact that sometimes you don't win does not make it undemocratic. This is a fair victory for the opposition, and the PSUV certainly deserves this loss.[/QUOTE] 17 years of "democratically elected" policies have left the country in shambles, its seems the people in Venezuela finally learned not to be so gullible. I guess standing in line for 5 hours to get toilet paper, not getting eggs in your diet and maybe getting killed in a robbery in one of the world's highest crime rates countries surely was "ludicrous propaganda".

[QUOTE=Octavius;49265456]I hate to break it to you, but has the idea entered your mind that a government and nation being run by a majority party which is democratically elected is not dictatorial? I'm not denying Venezuela has problems (Like its economy, corruption, and bureaucracy), it certainly does. But it has never been some undemocratic dictatorship and those claims are just ludicrous propaganda. The Conservative party in the UK maintains a majority for their national government, is the UK now a de-facto dictatorship? I'd love to see legitimate and good sources for these claims of yours though. The government of Venezuela has not ignored the people. Up until recently it was supported by the majority of the people. But yes, your right, let's praise the righteous opposition which has great leaders who demand for such reasonable and democratic things like closing polling places and not allowing people to vote! Are we not going to mention that the Cart Center found the elections in Venezuela to be democratic? Do you really find it so ridiculous that the government was in fact properly elected multiple times? Perhaps the government has never covered up a loss, but it has, in reality, been close until now! You may not like it, but that's how it is. Venezuela is more democratic now than it ever was prior to Chavez or at the start of his leadership. The so called 'Pink Revolution' which is democratic through and through and this cannot be denied. This electoral victory IS only possible because because the system is not rigged like you say. Sure, the PSUV may not follow every rule and may be corrupt to some degree, but neither Venezuela nor the PSUV are dictatorial or non-democratic. This dictatorial Venezuela you talk about is, in reality, a fantasy. The fact that there's suffrage doesn't make a country democratic, but the fact that sometimes you don't win does not make it undemocratic. This is a fair victory for the opposition, and the PSUV certainly deserves this loss.[/QUOTE] This. Venezuela was neither socialist nor a dictatorship. If it was, some western-aligned, privately funded liberal opposition would have been crushed and its wealthy backers (finally) expropriated. It's the fact that the state and property owning elite are untouched is why this opposition could come back into power. It is representing the interests of the Venezuelan ruling class, whereas the PSUV lost such a mandate with the inflexible populist policies and mismanagement during a time of falling oil prices. As usual, politics is just a response to economic realities and effectively the management of the affairs of the nation's elite. This is neither a democratic triumph nor a defeat to socialism, it's just capitalism as usual, and that's what made maduro a 'dictator'. We are trading state capitalism for liberal capitalism, because of interests never actually assaulted by Chavistas.

Looks like Socialism failed yet again.

[QUOTE=Octavius;49265456]I hate to break it to you, but has the idea entered your mind that a government and nation being run by a majority party which is democratically elected is not dictatorial? I'm not denying Venezuela has problems (Like its economy, corruption, and bureaucracy), it certainly does. But it has never been some undemocratic dictatorship and those claims are just ludicrous propaganda. The Conservative party in the UK maintains a majority for their national government, is the UK now a de-facto dictatorship? I'd love to see legitimate and good sources for these claims of yours though. The government of Venezuela has not ignored the people. Up until recently it was supported by the majority of the people. But yes, your right, let's praise the righteous opposition which has great leaders who demand for such reasonable and democratic things like closing polling places and not allowing people to vote! Are we not going to mention that the Cart Center found the elections in Venezuela to be democratic? Do you really find it so ridiculous that the government was in fact properly elected multiple times? Perhaps the government has never covered up a loss, but it has, in reality, been close until now! You may not like it, but that's how it is. Venezuela is more democratic now than it ever was prior to Chavez or at the start of his leadership. The so called 'Pink Revolution' which is democratic through and through and this cannot be denied. This electoral victory IS only possible because because the system is not rigged like you say. Sure, the PSUV may not follow every rule and may be corrupt to some degree, but neither Venezuela nor the PSUV are dictatorial or non-democratic. This dictatorial Venezuela you talk about is, in reality, a fantasy. The fact that there's suffrage doesn't make a country democratic, but the fact that sometimes you don't win does not make it undemocratic. This is a fair victory for the opposition, and the PSUV certainly deserves this loss.[/QUOTE] Jesus Christ you really don't understand the fucking distortion here. And you won't, really, because you're a fool, but I'll keep trying. I mean of course, because in the UK the Conservatives suppress the opposition by illegally imprisoning them and limiting their freedom of speech by shutting down every single channel they have to speak in public media. Or of course, the Conservatives force government employees to vote for them, and send them on buses straight towards the voting centers under threat of being fired if they don't vote. If you just wanna see the extent of how politicized the government actually is, I can find you the pictures of Chavez that are hanging inside every single government bank and office. Hell, I got a letter from a government agency recently, I could transcribe it right now. The opposition didn't call for closing voting centers, they called for closing it after 6PM, the time where it was established by law that ALL voting centers that didn't have anybody left on queue to vote MUST close. One of the directors of the National Electoral Center called for an extension of that time, which is [I]illegal[/I]. The reason why this is so important for the centers to close, is because if they don't close simultaneously, information can leak out of other centers who have already closed down, since upon closing, they must instantly start the process of counting and transmitting the votes. If you force them to not shut down by extending the queues (Usually by using government buses to bring people to the voting centers), you can bring in voters while the results are still being added up, allowing you to alter the final count to your bidding. This is a strategy that the government has used for every single election. Just goes to show how misinformed you are. The Carter Center has supported every single Venezuelan election, including the shady recall referendum of 2004 that resulted in a little document called "Lista Tascon" being made, which contained the name, ID number and signature of every single person who voted yes on impeaching Chavez. This list was used to fire millions of people from their jobs, many of which I know personally. The Carter Center is a bunch of fucking hacks funded by interest groups, and it bears the name of one of the worse presidents of the modern day US. If you wanna experience what Venezuela is actually like, I welcome you to visit it. The fact that we won by such a landslide despite gerrymandering and the numerous other advantages the government had shows just how distorted the balance of power is in Venezuela. [QUOTE=Conscript;49265627]This. Venezuela was neither socialist nor a dictatorship. If it was, some western-aligned, privately funded liberal opposition would have been crushed and its wealthy backers (finally) expropriated. It's the fact that the state and property owning elite are untouched is why this opposition could come back into power. It is representing the interests of the Venezuelan ruling class, whereas the PSUV lost such a mandate with the inflexible populist policies and mismanagement during a time of falling oil prices. As usual, politics is just a response to economic realities and effectively the management of the affairs of the nation's elite. This is neither a democratic triumph nor a defeat to socialism, it's just capitalism as usual, and that's what made maduro a 'dictator'. We are trading state capitalism for liberal capitalism, because of interests never actually assaulted by Chavistas.[/QUOTE] MUD is as left wing as the PSUV lol. It's social democracy without the populist element that actually ruined the country. I recommend you read a bit on who actually won before making such accusations. Hell, you'll find that PSUV does many things the left fights against.