Venezuela: Opposition Broken After 4 of 5 Governors Swear in Before Constituent Assembly

CARACAS, Venezuela - The opposition coalition Democratic Unity Roundtable (MUD) is in crisis with some parties threatening to leave after 4 of 5 opposition leaders elected to governorship positions swore in before the Constituent Assembly, a body not recognized by the MUD.

On October 16, the National Electoral Council (CNE) said that President Nicolás Maduro's ruling United Socialist Party of Venezuela (PSUV) won 17 of 23 state governorships in the election the night before as parts of the divided opposition presented candidates while others abstained from the vote in protest and urged their followers to do the same.

Tibisay Lucena, the head of the CNE, announced the results late on that Monday evening as Maduro hailed the incident-free election as a "success that reflects the triumph of democracy and peace" in Venezuela.

Gerardo Blyde, the campaign head of the...