In Venezuela, 18 newly elected socialist governors have been sworn in by the constituent assembly.
\nFive governors from the opposition Roundtable for Democracy (MUD) coalition boycotted the event.
\nThey said they refused to bow to the constituent assembly, which they consider illegitimate.
\nThe boycott is the latest stand-off between the opposition and the governing socialist party amid a grave economic and political crisis.
\nThe swearing-in ceremony followed disputed regional elections on Sunday.
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\nThe opposition expected to win in a majority of states following months of anti-government protests and amid widespread discontent about sky-high inflation and wide-spread shortages of basic goods.
\nBut according to the National Electoral Council, the Socialist Unity Party (PSUV) of President Nicol\u00e1s Maduro won in 18 of Venezuela’s 23 states.
\nThe outcome came as a surprise to pollsters who had predicted that a majority of states would go to the opposition.
\nThe MUD has alleged that they were robbed of victory through a campaign of dirty tricks.
\nThey have published what they say is evidence of fraud in the state of Bol\u00edvar, where the government candidate was declared the winner after a two-day delay.
\nAndres Velasquez (C), candidate of the Venezuelan coalition of opposition parties (MUD) for the Bolivar state governor office, talks to supporters during a gathering near the regional office of the National Electoral Council (CNE), in Ciudad Bolivar, Venezuela, October 16, 2017.Image copyrightREUTERS
\nImage caption
\nOpposition candidate Andr\u00e9s Vel\u00e1squez (holding a micropohone) says he has won the election in Bol\u00edvar
\nThey also say that the National Electoral Council, dominated by government loyalists, cannot be trusted.
\nBut some opposition candidates, including the former governor of Lara state, Henri Falc\u00f3n, have accepted their defeat at the polls and blamed it on the demoralised state of their supporters.
\nPresident Maduro has described the results as a victory. “Chavismo is alive, in the street, and triumphant,” he said, referring to the name given to his party’s brand of socialism.
\nStand-off
\nThe result has again heightened tension between the opposition and the government.
\nPresident Maduro said that governors who refused to be sworn in by the constituent assembly would not be allowed to take up office.
\nVenezuela’s President Nicolas Maduro holds a map of Venezuela during a news conference at Miraflores Palace in Caracas, Venezuela October 17, 2017.Image copyrightREUTERS
\nImage caption
\nPresident Maduro says the election has been a resounding success
\n“It is my opinion as head of state that all elected governors have to subordinate themselves to the constituent power or face being deposed immediately,” he said.
\nThe constituent assembly was convened by President Maduro but has been controversial from the start as his critics see it as a way to increase his power.
\nCritics of Mr Maduro say the fact that the constituent assembly is a “superbody” which can overrule the legislative and executive shows their fears were warranted.
\nThey say they refuse to recognise the body and will only obey the constitution and the wish of the people.
\nThe MUD said it would meet later on Thursday to discuss how to proceed further.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
In Venezuela, 18 newly elected socialist governors have been sworn in by the constituent assembly. Five governors from the opposition Roundtable for Democracy (MUD) coalition boycotted the event. They said they refused to bow to the constituent assembly, which they consider illegitimate. The boycott is the latest stand-off between the opposition and the governing socialist party amid a grave economic… Read more »<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":53,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-949","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-article"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/baileyonlineclassroom.com\/theamericasblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/949","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/baileyonlineclassroom.com\/theamericasblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/baileyonlineclassroom.com\/theamericasblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/baileyonlineclassroom.com\/theamericasblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/53"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/baileyonlineclassroom.com\/theamericasblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=949"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/baileyonlineclassroom.com\/theamericasblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/949\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":950,"href":"https:\/\/baileyonlineclassroom.com\/theamericasblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/949\/revisions\/950"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/baileyonlineclassroom.com\/theamericasblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=949"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/baileyonlineclassroom.com\/theamericasblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=949"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/baileyonlineclassroom.com\/theamericasblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=949"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}