Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro speaks in Caracas, on Dec. 8, 2020.MANAURE QUINTERO/Reuters
Venezuela’s Socialist Party on Tuesday inaugurated a congress controlled by allies of President Nicolas Maduro, a change that many Western nations have assailed as the product of a fraudulent election.
The country’s opposition, led by Juan Guaido, who has served as speaker of parliament since 2019, separately seated a committee of legislators in a virtual session, intended to rival the socialist-held National Assembly after the opposition boycotted legislative elections held on Dec. 6.
The shift marks a formal consolidation of power for Maduro, who in early 2019 looked vulnerable as the United States and dozens of other countries recognized Guaido as Venezuela’s rightful leader.
“You are examples for the world of how democracy should be exercised,” said Jorge Rodriguez, former information minister who was named president of parliament and swore in 227 lawmakers. “We are here by constitutional mandate.”
Socialist Party lawmakers and allies earlier on Tuesday walked toward the ornate legislative palace from a nearby plaza carrying photos of late President Hugo Chavez and founding father Simon Bolivar.
Nearby roads were blocked off by security forces.
The ceremony marked the symbolic end of the opposition’s five-year struggle to weaken Maduro after it won a 2015 landslide victory in parliamentary elections.
But control of parliament will give Maduro’s allies little capacity to improve a crippled economy hemmed in by U.S. sanctions. And the pro-government supreme court had for years hamstrung opposition legislators by shooting down every one of their measures.
“I am not aware of the assembly, I am working to solve my problems,” said Maria Rojas, 49, who works in the Caracas mayor’s office. “God is the only one who can solve the situation.”
The U.S. Trump administration has recognized the opposition-held congress’ extension of its own term, but other international supporters of Guaido, including the European Union, have yet to agree if the opposition still rightfully controls parliament.
The move has also generated rifts within Guaido’s coalition, with one major opposition party abstaining from the vote on the extension and several individual lawmakers announcing they would stop serving as legislators after Jan. 5.
Over the past year, public approval for Guaido has fallen, while Maduro retains some popular support.
The looming inauguration of U.S. President-elect Joe Biden on Jan. 20, after years of escalating U.S. sanctions and diplomatic pressure on Maduro under Trump, represents another uncertainty for Guaido.
Biden has repeatedly labelled Maduro a dictator and has said he would work with other countries to seek free and fair elections in Venezuela but has not laid out details of policies he plans to implement toward the oil-rich nation.
A representative of Biden’s team did not immediately reply on Monday when asked if his administration would continue recognizing Guaido as the head of parliament.
Maduro calls Guaido a U.S.-backed puppet seeking to oust him in a coup. He has said the Dec. 6 elections had the same electoral conditions as the 2015 vote won by the opposition.
Maduro, who retains the support of the armed forces and allies like Cuba, Russia and Iran, helped push opposition lawmakers out of the congressional headquarters and forced dozens of legislators into exile.
Guaido has vowed a “diplomatic offensive” to ensure as many countries as possible refused to recognize the legitimacy of the socialist-held congress, and called on supporters to take to the streets.
“The dictatorship bet that we were going to leave the country and the answer is simple, here we are, here is the National Parliament defending the constitution,” Guaido said in Tuesday’s virtual session.
Our Morning Update and Evening Update newsletters are written by Globe editors, giving you a concise summary of the day’s most important headlines. Sign up today.