Venezuelan Opposition Leader Calls Election Announcement “Trap”

While the Venezuelan government has announced elections amid ongoing opposition violence, rightwing opposition leader, Julio Borges, called it a move to “distract and divide”.

Following Tuesday’s announcement that regional parliament and governor elections will be held in December, and elections for the National Constituent Assembly in July, Borges referred to the announcement as a “trap”, and called for opposition protests to continue in response to the announcement, Telesur TV reported.

“We will stay in the streets until our objectives are reached,” Borges said in a press conference held late on Tuesday.

Venezuela’s National Electoral Council President Tibisay Lucena announced on Tuesday that the country will hold elections for state governors and regional parliaments on Dec. 10, and that National Constituent Assembly elections will be held in July.

In response to the announcement by CNE (National Electoral Council), the Democratic Unity Table, known as MUD by its Spanish acronym, has called for opposition protesters to march to the CNE building in Caracas on Wednesday morning.

“We will not fall into their trap. We believe that today’s announcement wants to distract and divide,” he said regarding the announcement.

Venezuela’s constituent assembly has received support from the National Electoral Council, oil union workers, sports promoters and other key sectors of Venezuela society.

Although 17 opposition parties have agreed to discuss the terms of a serious national dialogue with the government, rightwing groups aligned with MUD have refused to cooperate with the negotiations.

President Nicolas Maduro confirmed earlier this month that presidential elections would be held as scheduled in 2018, as legally required.

In spite of this, opposition leaders have repeatedly referred to the President as a “dictator.”

Opposition protests calling for the ouster of President Maduro have continued for more than eight weeks and claimed at least 60 lives.