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Pro-government supporters attend a closing campaign rally in support of the candidates for the Great Patriotic Pole party, for the National Assembly upcoming elections in Caracas, Venezuela
VENEZUELANS go to the polls this weekend for the first National Assembly elections since 2015.
The election is an opportunity for pro-revolutionary parties to break the majority held by the right since 2015’s vote. The assembly is expanding to 277 seats – from 167 – and 14,400 candidates from 107 political organisations are taking part, 98 of which are considered parties opposed to the Bolivarian revolution led by Hugo Chavez and President Nicolas Maduro.
Parties come together in broad alliances, the largest of which are the pro-revolution Great Patriotic Pole (GPP) which supports President Maduro, and the anti-revolution Democratic Unity Roundtable, commonly known by its acronym Mud. Some left-wing parties including the Communist Party of Venezuela are standing separately from the GPP this year, in the Popular Revolutionary Alternative (ARP) alliance.
Venezuelan pretender Juan Guaido, who declared himself president in January 2019 and was recognised by the US government and its allies, is boycotting the elections, but most opposition groups are taking part.
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