adminCARACAS. — Venzeuelans in two cities went to the polls yesterday to elect new mayors two months after the opposition-member incumbents were dismissed and jailed for failing to prevent violence in anti-government protests.At least 42 people have been killed in more than three months of protests that the government has tried to suppress with force and mass arrests.
The protesters – students and other opponents of President Nicolas Maduro’s socialist government – have rallied against rampant crime, runaway inflation and shortages of basic goods.
In the city of San Cristobal, along the border with Colombia where the protests were first birthed, an expected 208 000 voters were choosing between the wife of the ousted mayor Daniel Ceballos, from the MUD opposition coalition, and Alejandro Mendez (33), a lawyer championed by the ruling Socialist party.
In an odd quirk, Mendez will be un- able to vote for himself, because he is actually registered as a voter in another state, Tachira.
In San Diego, the wife of the imprisoned mayor, Enzo Scarano, is also running, against Chavista candidate Alexis Abreu, with about 60 000 people eligible to vote. — AFP.
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