Venezuela Opposition Controls Congress After 17 Years

Forget the ceremonial gavel passing and group photos. Venezuela’s new congress, now dominated by opponents of the socialist administration, is being sworn in Tuesday amid dueling street demonstrations
Venezuela Opposition Controls Congress After 17 Years
Henry Ramos Allup, incoming congress president, greets members of the news media upon his arrival to the National Assembly in Caracas, Venezuela, on Jan. 5. AP Photo/Fernando Llano
The Associated Press
Updated:

CARACAS, Venezuela—Venezuela’s opposition took majority control of the National Assembly, setting the stage for a potential power struggle with socialist President Nicolás Maduro.

With tensions running high inside the dome-roofed legislature and dueling demonstrations by government supporters and opponents outside, lawmakers took their oath Tuesday, Jan. 5. A group of pro-government lawmakers walked out in protest after storming the legislature’s dais as the new congressional leadership laid out its legislative agenda.

It’s the first time in 17 years that opponents of the socialist revolution begun by the late Hugo Chávez have controlled the legislature.

But the two-thirds majority it won last month, giving it a strong hand to rein in Maduro, was in doubt after a government-stacked Supreme Court at the last minute barred four lawmakers from taking their seats while it probes allegations of electoral fraud. As a result, only 163 of 167 lawmakers were sworn in Tuesday.

Earlier in the day, hundreds of opposition supporters accompanied the incoming lawmakers past a heavy military barricade to the legislature downtown. A few blocks away, a larger crowd of government supporters gathered outside the presidential palace to lament the inauguration of what they called the “bourgeois parliament.”

Reflecting the changing political winds, journalists for the first time in years were granted access to the legislature and state TV broadcast interviews with the opposition political leaders.

Lilian Tintori, wife of jailed opposition leader Leopoldo López, holds up a sign that reads "Amnesty now!" as the National Assembly convenes, in Caracas, Venezuela, on Tuesday, Jan. 5, 2016. (AP Photo/Fernando Llano)
Lilian Tintori, wife of jailed opposition leader Leopoldo López, holds up a sign that reads "Amnesty now!" as the National Assembly convenes, in Caracas, Venezuela, on Tuesday, Jan. 5, 2016. AP Photo/Fernando Llano