Legislative Election Leaves Venezuela in Political Standoff

President Nicolás Maduro has cemented formal control over all major institutions of power in Venezuela with authorities reporting Monday that his political alliance easily won a majority in congress. Yet he remains a pariah to much of the world following an election critics called deeply undemocratic.

Maduro’s domestic adversaries, however, are also scrambling to assert their own relevance after boycotting elections for the National Assembly that has been their stronghold for five years…

Eric Farnsworth, vice president of the Washington-based Council of the Americas and Americas Society think tank, said it could take months before Biden’s administration establishes its policy toward Venezuela.

And with Guaidó’s congressional term ending, along with legal immunity granted sitting congressmen, he is exposed to the possibility of being arrested by Maduro’s government, Farnsworth said.

“You have a country that’s embarked on the full path of dictatorship,” Farnsworth said. “The international community now has to decide whether it wants to live with that or restore the democratic path for Venezuela. Those options seem to be narrowing.”

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