On Sunday, Venezuelans cast their votes for the governors of Guárico and Amazonas states and for 11 mayoral seats including that of Venezuela’s second largest city, Maracaibo. This was the first vote since President Hugo Chávez’ Partido Socialista Unido de Venezuela (PSUV) lost its two-thirds majority in parliamentary elections last September.
In all, the opposition won in four municipalities and in one state. This brings their control of governorships to six of a total of 24.
In Maracaibo, Venezuela’s second-largest city, Eveling Trejo de Rosales will become the city’s first female mayor winning 58.68 percent of ballots cast. Her victory against against PSUV candidate Gian Carlos Di Martino is an especially symbolic pick-up for the opposition. The mayor-elect is the wife of former Maracaibo mayor Manuel Rosales, who is currently in exile in Peru. “Manuel returns to the mayorship because Eveling Trejo arrives with him,” she exclaimed in her victory speech.
Elections were held with “complete normality,” according to Socorro Hernández, head of the National Electoral Council (CNE), despite heavy rains that have left 30 dead and more than 72,000 homeless.
View the results for the remainder of the regions.
