Caracas, Venezuela
Stinging tear gas filled the capital and beyond on a deadly day of voting that took place under the gaze of 326,000 troops. The Maduro government, which showed zero tolerance toward pro-democracy protests and stormed squares with armed forces, insisted by midday that “99 percent and more” of the nation was turning out for the deeply unpopular ballot.
But at least 10 polling stations in the relatively more pro-government western swath of Caracas were virtually empty with only a few hours of voting left. The opposition, which boycotted the vote, declared that turnout was remarkably low and said 14 in its ranks died in the streets, including a 13-year-old boy.
The election, decried as illegitimate by a growing number of nations, will create what critics call a puppet congress with vast powers to rewrite the constitution and supplant the opposition-controlled National Assembly, leaving all branches of government under firm socialist control.
“Venezuela has screamed with its silence,” said Julio Borges, head of the National Assembly.
The election represents a direct challenge to the Trump administration — which called on Maduro, the anointed successor of late leftist firebrand Hugo Chávez, to cancel the vote.
Washington has already targeted the assets of top Venezuelan officials. The administration’s options now range from more individual sanctions to an oil embargo that could further cripple Venezuela’s devastated economy and at least temporarily increase the price of gas in the United States.
On Sunday, members of the opposition set up barricades in parts of the capital and beyond and attempted to stage protests. But the government responded with extraordinary force.
In a scene repeated at various spots in the capital, a cluster of peaceful demonstrators were chanting for democracy and waving the yellow, blue and red Venezuelan flag in the city’s Plaza Francia when riot troops suddenly materialized.
They fired tear gas, sending demonstrators fleeing for cover.
“Today we protest for the freedom of the country, for the political prisoners, for the fallen, for the people who’ve died looking for a better future … There are not enough people here because of fear,” said a thin young man who broke away and ran as government forces took the square. Later, clusters of demonstrators returned, only to be chased again by troops.
A pro-government candidate was killed in the interior state of Bolivar, according to the attorney general’s office.
A radical faction of government opponents — known as the Resistance — also used force. Around noon in the city’s east, a protester in his 20s placed what appeared to be explosives inside a bag lying on the street. Five minutes later, as troops passed by in a motorcade, the bag detonated, throwing at least two of the men to the ground.
In Caracas, voting began at 6 a.m. amid the squawk of macaws. According to polling from the Datanalisis firm, 72 percent of the population is against a new constituent assembly.
The nation’s 2.8 million state workers risked losing their jobs if they did not turn out. Poor residents were warned that they could lose access to food baskets and government housing for failing to vote in the election, in which the candidates — including Maduro’s wife and son — are all government backers.
“To be honest, I’m voting because I’m afraid of losing my benefits,” said Betty, a 60-year-old woman who lives in public housing and was too scared to give her last name. “The government gave me my house, and I don’t want to lose it. I’m surviving because of government programs.”
On San Martin Avenue, just a few blocks from the presidential palace, there were a few people voting at a public school, with 10 waiting in line. Some wore pro-government T-shirts.
Around 3:45 p.m., the opposition claimed only 1.5 million eligible voters — less than 7 percent of the electorate — had turned out. An unofficial opposition ballot held on July 16 had drawn nearly 7.6 million voters who had rejected this Sunday’s election.
Ramón Reyes works for the public TV station Televen. Many Chávez supporters — known as Chávistas — have turned against Maduro, but others turned out Sunday in support.
“As a citizen and Chávista, this is my responsibility,” Reyes said. “I always voted for Chávez and the ruling party.”
Other Chávistas said they have had enough.
“Everything has changed, everything,” said Angely Verde, a 28-year-old former state worker who turned out to a protest. “This is not where I grew up. I can’t recognize anything I’m seeing. It’s so sad. Seeing other people who still have faith is what gives you energy and strength to go on.”
Maduro has pitched the new legislature as the cornerstone of a socialist dream. Some candidates are former government officials, but many are government supporters from poor neighborhoods. The 545-seat body, he says, will shift power away from traditional politicians and institutions toward socialist activists and slums — a move that critics say will sideline the opposition, benefit those who rely on government patronage, and increase official control.
Maduro cast his ballot in front of national TV cameras with his so-called “fatherland card” – which voters were required to use to prove their participation and ensure future government benefits. Suggesting systemic errors, the screen read: “This person doesn’t exist or was annulled” before the camera immediately changed focus.
Later, Maduro claimed a success.
“It was and still is a successful day with great popular participation,” he insisted on TV. “The oligarchy doesn’t have its eyes or ears on the people, and it never has. We don’t care about the opinion of the oligarchy.”
Officials and journalists from the pro-government station Telesur tweeted photos of lines at voting centers. Early Sunday, reports surfaced of violent confrontations between government forces and residents in western Caracas and the suburbs. On Saturday night, public security forces conducted raids in the center of the city and shot two young men in the state of Merida.
The decision to hold the vote appeared set to prolong and deepen the suffering of the people of Venezuela, where hyperinflation and scarcities have sent poverty soaring, crippled medical care and increased hunger. A tube of toothpaste now costs more than one day’s salary at the minimum wage.
The government, meanwhile, was bracing for further international isolation. Thirteen nations from the Organization of American States had urged Maduro to cancel the vote.
Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos said Friday that his country would not recognize Sunday’s vote.
Mexico and Panama said they would collaborate with U.S. sanctions. In Europe, Spain urged the European Union to explore “individual and selective sanctions.”
It left Venezuela with a dwindling roster of allies, chiefly Cuba, Russia and China.
Meanwhile, Delta Air Lines and Colombia’s Avianca suspended service last week to Venezuela, citing security concerns.
The opposition, after failing to muster massive crowds in the streets in recent days, appeared increasingly reliant on international pressure to curb what it called a power grab by the Maduro government.
“Maduro is isolating us from the world and transforming our country into an island, like Cuba,” Borges said.
Yet for the opposition, which has portrayed the vote as the “zero hour” for Venezuela’s democracy, the challenge is to find a way to reinvigorate an exhausted resistance. After four months of street protests in which thousands have been detained, the question is whether it can find new momentum.
In a sense, the new assembly also poses risks for Maduro. The body will be all-powerful; in theory, its authority will be even greater than the president’s.
One scenario is that Maduro’s wife or son is installed as its head and that the assembly finds a way to protect his grip on power.
The socialist government already controls the Supreme Court, which in March nullified the authority of the democratically elected National Assembly.
But the new body could also serve as the battlefield for a game of thrones among Maduro’s inner circle. Speculation is particularly rife that one of his formidable lieutenants, Diosdado Cabello, may be gunning for the assembly’s top job, potentially using it as a perch to build his own power base.
“Inside the ruling party, different economic interests are at play, and they’re waiting to see how the fight will end,” said Félix Seijas Rodríguez, a Caracas-based pollster and political analyst.
“The internal fight has always existed,” he continued. “The U.S. is waiting to see who will have control over the Constituent Assembly, either Diosdado or Maduro through his wife or (former minister) Delcy Rodríguez.”