Political Prisoners and Exiled Leaders for Venezuela’s Elections

Political prisoners, former student representatives from the 2014 anti-government protests or those on exile will be among the candidates from the opposition coalition Democratic Unity Roundtable, or MUD, for Venezuela’s parliamentary elections on Dec. 6. Following the announcement of the election date by the National Electoral Council, the opposition coalition disclosed Wednesday the names of its candidates for the 87 constituencies, in an election for which it appears confident. MUD chief Jesus Torrealba said in a press conference that in each one of these constituencies MUD found “perfect alliances” to fight for a majority in the 167-seat National Assembly. Imprisoned leader of the opposition Popular Will party, Leopoldo Lopez, did not feature in the party’s electoral list. However, several members of his party, who are in exile or imprisoned, will be contesting the elections. More…