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Venezuela suspends recall campaign against President Maduro
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| Contributor | IndyGeorgia |
| Last Edited | IndyGeorgia Oct 22, 2016 04:35pm |
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| Category | News |
| Author | Jorge Rueda |
| News Date | Thursday, October 20, 2016 10:00:00 PM UTC0:0 |
| Description | CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) — Venezuela's electoral authority suspended a recall drive against President Nicolas Maduro on Thursday less than a week before it was set to start, throwing the opposition's key campaign to oust the socialist leader into disarray.
Officials cited alleged fraud in a preliminary signature-gathering effort as justification for blocking the opposition from proceeding to the next stage of its push to hold a referendum on Maduro's removal. His critics blame the late President Hugo Chavez's heir for Venezuela's economic collapse, bare store shelves and the jailing of opposition leaders.
The opposition immediately blasted the decision as unconstitutional.
"We alert the diplomatic corps in our country that the government today is pushing toward a very dangerous scenario," former presidential candidate Henrique Capriles said on Twitter.
The official announcement came as a shock to many Venezuelans, who were gearing up for the chance to sign petitions next week seeking the embattled leader's removal. To trigger a stay-or-go referendum, the opposition needed to collect and validate some 4 million signatures from 20 percent of the electorate in 24 states over three days next week.
Critics of Venezuela's 17-year left-wing administration have made the recall their central political issue after being sidelined in Congress and in virtually all other public institutions. But the campaign had already become mostly symbolic after elections officials in September said no vote would take place this year.
That timing is crucial. A successful vote to oust Maduro this year would have triggered a presidential election and given the opposition a good shot at winning power. If Maduro is voted out in 2017, though, his vice president will finish the presidential term, leaving the socialists in charge. |
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