Venezuela’s Election Facade Helps Push Juan Guaido Offstage

Maduro came out ‘victorious’ in vote marked by mass abstention
Sunday vote ends Guaido’s pretend hold over the legislature

Juan Guaido, president of the National Assembly, speaks during a news conference in Caracas, Venezuela, on Saturday, Dec. 5, 2020. Guaido and the opposition boycotted the vote as neither free nor fair.Photographer: Carlos Becerra/Bloomberg

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By Alex Vasquez and Patricia Laya

December 7, 2020 at 10:00 AM UTC

Updated on

December 7, 2020 at 5:05 PM UTC

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Venezuela held stage-managed parliamentary elections on Sunday, putting another nail in the coffin of opposition leader Juan Guaido’s two-year quest to drive President Nicolas Maduro from power.

The result of the election -- overseen by Maduro cronies on the electoral council and the supreme court, boycotted by the opposition and occurring without neutral poll watchers -- was a foregone conclusion.