CARACAS, Venezuela – Venezuelans voted Sunday, December 6, in tense elections that could see the opposition seize legislative power from the socialist government and risk sparking violence in the oil-rich, cash-poor nation.
With the country suffering from soaring inflation and poverty, a broad opposition coalition is vying to gain control of the National Assembly and force a change of course by anti-US leader Nicolas Maduro.
That could mark a potential political shift in the Latin American country of 30 million, which has the world's biggest oil reserves but also widespread poverty.
Or it could lead to political deadlock and even a repeat of riots that killed 43 people last year, analysts and political leaders warn.
Polling stations opened at 6:00 am (1030 GMT) in balloting widely seen as a referendum on Maduro's economic leadership after 16 years with him and his predecessor, the late Hugo Chavez, at the helm.
"We will conquer!" Maduro bellowed at a rally this week, dismissing his opponents as "lazy and inept."
He and Chavez invested the country's vast oil wealth in projects to build homes, roads and schools.
But since the mustachioed former bus driver was elected after Chavez's death in 2013, the revolution has faltered as oil prices have plunged.
Families are suffering shortages of basic supplies. Soaring inflation has slashed their spending power.
"There is too much insecurity, too much scarcity. All basic goods are hard to come by: diapers, oil, rice," said one voter, Carlos Silvera, 33.
'Yankee imperialism'
Surveys by Venezuelan pollsters Datanalisis and Venebarometro have indicated a broad opposition coalition, the Democratic Unity Roundtable, is likely to win a majority of the vote.
But it was unclear exactly how those votes might translate into seats under the system of electoral constituencies, which is considered to favor the government side.
Maduro's critics have accused him of rigging the voting districts in his favor. He has dismissed them as stooges of "Yankee imperialism."
International authorities have criticized Maduro for not letting foreign observers monitor the election.
"What we all want is a clean and transparent election," said former Colombian president Andres Pastrana.
"We hope the opposition will publicly agree to accept the results peacefully," he added, speaking in Caracas.
Polls were due to close at 2230 GMT. First results are not expected before 0230 GMT Monday.
'Unstable situation'
An opposition win could herald a broader shift in Latin America, where Argentina's leftist government lost a presidential election last month.
But analysts said Venezuela's vote would be less decisive, and potentially volatile, since opposition parties have little in common beyond their disdain for Maduro.
His term as president runs until 2019, unless the opposition wins a big enough majority to force him out by constitutional means.
If the opposition wins a smaller majority, Maduro could manipulate the result in his favor or just rule by presidential decree, said analyst Luis Vicente Leon, head of Datanalisis.
"The assembly could seek to impeach the president, but he could try to dissolve the congress," said Leon.
"It would be a very unstable situation."
Maduro has been accused of intimidating opponents. Opposition leader Leopoldo Lopez was jailed last year after being convicted of inciting violence in the protests.
A prosecutor in the case later said false evidence was used against him.
On the eve of the election, Pastrana told reporters that Maduro had promised to let Lopez vote, though the government did not immediately confirm the claim.
Another senior opposition figure, Henrique Capriles, warned opposition radicals against taking to the streets.
"Venezuela is a bomb ready to explode," he told Agence France-Presse. – Roland Lloyd Parry, AFP/Rappler.com