海角大神

鈥� Hugo听P茅rez Hern谩iz contributes to WOLA's blog:听.听The views expressed are the author's own

听On March 19, Carlos Ocariz, mayor of Caracas鈥� Sucre Municipality, launched an association of 76 opposition mayors called 鈥�.鈥� The group includes other prominent national and regional opposition figures such as Gerardo Blyde, Mayor of Baruta; Alfredo Barrios, Mayor of Irribaren; David Smolansky, Mayor of El Hatillo; and Antonio Ledezma, Mayor of Metropolitan Caracas.

According to the coalition of opposition parties Mesa de la Unidad Democr谩tica (MUD) press release, the new association seems to have specific aims related to the current political juncture: 鈥渃itizen security, violations of human rights, and criminalization of protests.鈥� However, the fact that the announcement was made by Mr. Ocariz could be significant for future leadership struggles within the opposition. Ocariz belongs to Primero Justicia, the political party headed by Henrique Capriles, the 2012 and 2013 opposition presidential candidate. Through grassroots community work in the poor barrios of Sucre, Ocariz has successfully countered the image of middle class lawyers so often attached to his party. Ocariz has remained a popular local leader and has not yet made the jump to national politics. Becoming the spokesperson of this new mayors鈥� association could provide him with a platform for national leadership.

This is in part because opposition mayors have gained increasing prominence in the last two months, largely as a result of the national government鈥檚 response to the ongoing protests. In March, Venezuela鈥檚 highest court, the Tribunal Supremo de Justicia (TSJ), to prevent the 鈥減lacement of obstacles in public streets,鈥� in their municipalities. The order was aimed against the guarimbas (barricades) used in protests, but it put the mayors in the difficult position of possibly having to repress their own constituencies. Subsequently, on March 19, Vicencio Scarano, the Mayor of San Diego, in Carabobo State, was for failing to obey the orders of the TSJ.

On March 25, the Mayor of San Cristobal, in T谩chira state, Daniel Ceballos, was also . The Consejo Nacional Electoral (CNE) the public on March 20 that it had received the notification of 鈥渁bsolute absence鈥� of the Mayor of San Diego and that new elections would be called for the post. On March 26, that the government has already decided on two candidates to run for the posts of San Diego and San Cristobal. These actions by the government have put a nationwide focus on mayors who otherwise would likely have remained local political figures.

Other opposition leaders have also received much attention in recent weeks. On March 24, the President of the National Assembly that Assembly member Maria Corina Machado would be stripped of her assembly post because of her failed attempt to address the Organization of American States (OAS) meeting in Washington. Panama had ceded its seat in the OAS to Machado but Venezuela managed to block her intervention. The acceptance by Machado to sit for Panama at the OAS would contravene, according to Mr. Cabello, articles 191 and 197 of the Constitution that state that Assembly representatives cannot accept posts from foreign countries. Cabello asked that she be also put under investigation for 鈥渢reason to the fatherland鈥� by siding with a 鈥渉ostile country鈥� (Panama). On Monday March 31听 that Machado be stripped of her seat at the National Assembly, which means that Machado has lost her parliamentary immunity and could be arrested under the same charges of inciting the protests as Leopoldo L贸pez.

The episode has placed Ms. Machado as the leader of the most confrontational opposition sector, demanding La Salida. The other leader of La Salida, Leopoldo Lopez, is still in jail and mostly out of the public spotlight, although he recently managed to answer a . Machado, however, belongs to an old aristocratic family, and it seems unlikely that her leadership can go beyond the traditional opposition support groups.

Mr. Capriles鈥� leadership of the opposition has been put into question since the opposition鈥檚 poor showing in the December 2013 elections. Since the protests erupted in February, he has tried to find a middle course, asking for peaceful demonstrations and dialogue with the government. The violence of the protests and the heavy-handed crackdowns by the government has seemingly left him out of place in a radicalized context. Recently, he has tried to strike a by threatening to take the Miranda barrios out to the streets if the government denies him the state鈥檚 share of the national budget. He also made a strong warning about the cases of the Mayors of San Diego and San Cristobal.

Last week the Union of South American Nations (UNASUR), after a two day visit of its delegation to Venezuela, published a statement recognizing the willingness to dialogue by all parties. the participation of a 鈥渨itness of good faith to facilitate the dialogue between the parties.鈥� It is still not clear if UNASUR itself could be that witness of good faith. On March 28听 its willingness to act as witness for the dialogues. In his meeting with the UNASUR delegation, Ram贸n Guillermo Aveledo stated that the opposition would be willing to go to a dialogue with the government mediated by a witness of good faith, but also mentioned that they would not attend without the setting of a clear agenda. If future talks are convened with the presence of a witness of good faith 鈥� be it UNASUR, the Vatican, or a different organization 鈥� leadership within the opposition could become further divided between those who decide to attend those talks and those who don鈥檛.