The new president of the Venezuelan legislature, Jorge Rodríguez, this Tuesday.STRINGER / Reuters
Chavismo regained control of the Venezuelan National Assembly that it had lost in 2015 on Tuesday. The legislative elections in December, in which the vast majority of the opposition did not participate and which were questioned by the main international bodies, gave the coalition of ruling parties more than 90% of the 277 seats.
Despite the fact that those elections registered an abstention of more than 80%, in practice the political apparatus of the Government of Nicolás Maduro dominates all the country's institutions as of today.
The National Assembly was the only one that remained in the hands of the anti-Chavez forces and was led by Juan Guaidó.
The opposition leader tried, however, to keep up with Maduro and took office early in the morning as president of a parallel Chamber, considered by his followers as the authentic National Assembly.
What happened today in Venezuela with the beginning of the new legislature deepens the serious political conflict and does not resolve the institutional crisis that has convulsed the country.
However, it represents another twist in the consolidation of the regime.
The new president of Parliament, former Chavista minister Jorge Rodríguez, issued a clear warning to opponents, whose attempts to achieve political change have failed time and time again.
“Reconciliation yes, but without amnesia, sorry yes, but without forgetting.
There are crimes that cannot be forgiven, there are crimes that must be paid for, "said Rodríguez, who minutes later insisted:" There can be no forgiveness with forgetfulness, there can be no reconciliation with amnesia.
They dared to sign a contract where they accepted and paid 200 million dollars to mercenaries to assassinate the President of the Republic ”.
According to Rodríguez, the regime's adversaries "mounted an apparatus of psychological warfare, media, sanctions, to weaken being Venezuelan."
"There are offenses that cannot be ignored," he stressed.
"We are forced to exorcism," he went on to say.
Diosdado Cabello, former president of the National Constituent Assembly and considered the number two of Chavismo for his influence on the bases and the ruling formation, the United Socialist Party of Venezuela (PSUV), also dedicated his turn to speak to charge against the opposition.
“They must remember the coven of January 5, 2016, the madness, they thought that from the National Assembly they could change the government structure, the will of a people.
They could not, "he said in reference to the last legislature.
The parties opposed to the Bolivarian regime, cornered and harassed by the justice and the security forces, won the legislative elections of 2015 and later made Parliament their political platform.
It was by virtue of his position as president of the National Assembly that Guaidó declared himself two years ago as interim head of state, replacing Maduro.
Now, by de facto losing that position, international recognition as "president in charge" may also decline.
That is why the politician from Voluntad Popular, the party founded by Leopoldo López, seeks to retain control of an opposition Assembly, even in a symbolic way.
He did it through a virtual and parallel session accompanied by his followers.
"From my condition as interim president and president of the National Assembly, I call on everyone to build the defense line of the Republic and democracy in this country," said the opposition leader.
One of his main concerns is now international recognition, to whom he turned to ask for their support in the fight "for free, fair and verifiable presidential elections."
"The call to the international community is to support the mechanism for solving the conflict that involves holding free elections," he said.
One of its main supporters, the American Donald Trump, is about to leave the White House after years of failed strategies.
Trump tried to use the Venezuelan conflict internally to achieve electoral gain and now his successor, Democrat Joe Biden, will have to decide whether to change the diplomatic approach with Caracas.
At the same time, the European Union doubts whether to confirm its recognition of Guaidó and is studying a formula to continue supporting the opposition without explicit acceptance of the figure of interim president.