Eli Lake, Columnist

The EU Shouldn’t Help Legitimize Venezuela’s Elections

The decision to send observers to upcoming local and regional votes undermines the opposition to the regime of Nicolas Maduro.

November 19, 2021 at 10:00 AM UTC

By Eli Lake

Eli Lake is a Bloomberg Opinion columnist covering national security and foreign policy. He was the senior national security correspondent for the Daily Beast and covered national security and intelligence for the Washington Times, the New York Sun and UPI.

Is the EU giving him legitimacy?
Photographer: Carolina Cabral/Getty Images South America

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No one should be fooled that Sunday’s municipal and provincial elections in Venezuela signal a return to democracy for the impoverished South American country.

While some opposition politicians will be on the ballot, others have been arrested by the regime of Nicolas Maduro. Most of the country’s powerful institutions, from the courts to the banks, are under the control of his loyalists. And in recent years, the state has used food rations and other benefits to coerce the political allegiance of its citizens.