Venezuela’s harried opposition eyes landmark win

Its leaders have been thrown in jail, banned from politics and deeply divided, but Venezuela’s opposition nonetheless looks set to bruise President Nicolas Maduro by winning control of the National Assembly. Sixteen years into late president Hugo Chavez’s leftist “revolution,” opinion polls indicate the opposition is poised to win legislative elections Sunday for the first time since the firebrand leader came to power. That is a sign of widespread frustration with the economic mess besieging oil-dependent Venezuela, where spiraling inflation, empty supermarket shelves and long lines have become the norm under Maduro, Chavez’s successor. More…