The campaign for Venezuela's high-stakes legislative elections opened Friday with the spotlight on embattled President Nicolas Maduro's latest headache, a US drug trafficking indictment against two of his relatives.
The opposition, which is hoping to capitalize on Maduro's unpopularity to win control of the National Assembly in the December 6 polls, kicked off the campaign hammering on the arrest of two of first lady Cilia Flores's nephews on drugs charges.
Polls show the opposition stands to win control of the National Assembly for the first time since late leftist firebrand Hugo Chavez came to power in 1999.
"Here we have a case that scandalizes the whole nation," said Jesus Torrealba, the secretary general of the opposition Democratic Unity Roundtable (MUD).
"There must be a response. We want an immediate investigation," he told journalists.
The first lady's nephews Efrain Campo Flores and Francisco Flores de Freitas were charged in a New York court Thursday with conspiring to smuggle cocaine into the United States, after they were arrested in Haiti and handed over to US authorities.
The case adds to the pressure piling on Maduro, whose popularity is hovering at around 25 percent as falling crude prices push oil-dependent Venezuela into a deepening economic crisis.
Maduro has struggled to right the recession-racked economy, rein in triple-digit inflation and end chronic shortages that force Venezuelans to spend hours standing in line at the store.
Maduro meanwhile lashed out at the United Nations human rights chief, Zeid Ra'ad Al Hussein, who said Thursday that there were "serious concerns" about the independence of the Venezuelan judiciary after the jailing of opposition leader Leopoldo Lopez.
"If he wants to hear the truth about Venezuela, he should meet with high-ranking officials and the president of Venezuela, and not protect people who are attacking the constitutional government of Venezuela," Maduro said.
The UN rights chief's comments were delivered in a video played at the UN Human Rights Council just ahead of an address by Maduro, who condemned those making "reckless accusations taken from the global imperial media agenda."
The United States branded Maduro's address a "transparent attempt... to shift attention away from his government's own actions to restrict fundamental freedoms."
Maduro's government has come under fire from the US, UN and European Union for Lopez's 14-year prison sentence on charges of inciting violence at anti-government protests that shook Venezuela last year.
Several other key opposition leaders have also been jailed or banned from politics in the run-up to the legislative vote. But the opposition is nevertheless leading by anywhere from 14 to as much as 31 percentage points, according to opinion polls.
The campaign for Venezuela’s high-stakes legislative elections opened Friday with the spotlight on embattled President Nicolas Maduro’s latest headache, a US drug trafficking indictment against two of his relatives.
The opposition, which is hoping to capitalize on Maduro’s unpopularity to win control of the National Assembly in the December 6 polls, kicked off the campaign hammering on the arrest of two of first lady Cilia Flores’s nephews on drugs charges.
Polls show the opposition stands to win control of the National Assembly for the first time since late leftist firebrand Hugo Chavez came to power in 1999.
“Here we have a case that scandalizes the whole nation,” said Jesus Torrealba, the secretary general of the opposition Democratic Unity Roundtable (MUD).
“There must be a response. We want an immediate investigation,” he told journalists.
The first lady’s nephews Efrain Campo Flores and Francisco Flores de Freitas were charged in a New York court Thursday with conspiring to smuggle cocaine into the United States, after they were arrested in Haiti and handed over to US authorities.
The case adds to the pressure piling on Maduro, whose popularity is hovering at around 25 percent as falling crude prices push oil-dependent Venezuela into a deepening economic crisis.
Maduro has struggled to right the recession-racked economy, rein in triple-digit inflation and end chronic shortages that force Venezuelans to spend hours standing in line at the store.
Maduro meanwhile lashed out at the United Nations human rights chief, Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein, who said Thursday that there were “serious concerns” about the independence of the Venezuelan judiciary after the jailing of opposition leader Leopoldo Lopez.
“If he wants to hear the truth about Venezuela, he should meet with high-ranking officials and the president of Venezuela, and not protect people who are attacking the constitutional government of Venezuela,” Maduro said.
The UN rights chief’s comments were delivered in a video played at the UN Human Rights Council just ahead of an address by Maduro, who condemned those making “reckless accusations taken from the global imperial media agenda.”
The United States branded Maduro’s address a “transparent attempt… to shift attention away from his government’s own actions to restrict fundamental freedoms.”
Maduro’s government has come under fire from the US, UN and European Union for Lopez’s 14-year prison sentence on charges of inciting violence at anti-government protests that shook Venezuela last year.
Several other key opposition leaders have also been jailed or banned from politics in the run-up to the legislative vote. But the opposition is nevertheless leading by anywhere from 14 to as much as 31 percentage points, according to opinion polls.
