Maduro appoints “parallel mayors” in opposition strongholds
Ruling Socialists won the majority of municipal races but failed to capture major cities
Following Sunday's election race, in which the opposition won about a quarter of the mayoral races that were up for grabs, President Nicolás Maduro on Tuesday warned that he would appoint supervisors to oversee their cities if the new mayors refuse to cooperate with the central government.
Maduro's ruling Socialists won the majority of municipal races but failed to capture major cities such as Valencia, Barquisimeto, Maturín and other state capitals. But at the same time the opposition Democratic Union Committee (MUD) was disappointed that its candidates did not fare as well as they had expected.
Of the 335 municipal races, MUD candidates captured 77 city halls across Venezuela.
Maduro has already begun to appoint "parallel mayors" in opposition strongholds. Former baseball outfielder Tony "El Potro" Álvarez, who played for the Pittsburg Pirates, was given an official post as "the protector of Petare" after losing Sunday to incumbent Carlos Ocariz, mayor of Sucre district in eastern Caracas. Petare is the biggest neighborhood in Sucre.
"I will soon announce what we have planned with El Potro so that he can continue protecting the people of Petare," Maduro wrote via his Twitter account. "Congratulations on a job well done."
The opposition has not responded to Maduro's latest moves, including the president's threats to cut resources from any city controlled by the opposition if its mayor fails to cooperate with his Unified Socialist Party of Venezuela (PSUV).
Former Communication Minister Ernesto Villegas, who also lost to incumbent Caracas Mayor Antonio Ledezma, a prominent opposition leader, was named minister for the transformation of Caracas - an office created by the late President Hugo Chávez to usurp some of the mayor's duties in the capital.
Chávez sets precedent
After Ledezma first won the election in 2009, Chávez created a separate "Capital District Government" and appointed a former PSUV minister as its head.
A disillusioned opposition had hoped to use the local elections as a referendum on the current government.
The final tally of the votes gave the PSUV 49.34 percent of the votes (about 5.4 million) opposed to 43.72 percent garnered by MUD (some 4.8 million votes).
Despite heavy campaigning by the opposition, voter turnout was poor. Some 58.9 percent of Venezuelans went to the polls compared to a voter turnout of 79.6 percent in the presidential elections on April 14.
