The Intelligence Review | volume 1 | issue 1

Amazonas state” (Rojas 2016). The Amazonas is one of the largest, but sparsely populated,
states within the country. This move prevented the MUD from obtaining a super majority in
the National Assembly.
Efforts by the TSJ and Maduro to maintain control of the Assembly have not stopped there.
During the election campaigns for the Assembly, one of the key campaigning points of the
MUD was passing an Amnesty Law. The law “would benefit high-profile government adversaries
including Leopoldo Lopez, who was arrested in 2014 on accusations that he helped spur a
wave of demonstrations that ultimately left more than 40 people dead” (Ellsworth 2016). The
Assembly indeed approved an amnesty law; however, Maduro can seek to have the law
reviewed by the TSJ, which has repeatedly sided with the President against the Assembly.
Accordingly, the TSJ ruled that the piece of legislature was unconstitutional, stating that it
allowed for impunity.
Recent Developments
According to the Venezuelan Constitution, there are only six ways the President can be
removed from office. The last of these is the most discussed: a recall referendum, which relies
solely on the opinion of the citizens. This process has been started by the opposition members
in the Assembly, attempting to uphold the promises made during their campaign. After
collecting the signatures of over 1 percent of registered voters, the opposition then has to
collect signatures of over 20 percent of the registered voters in order to trigger a referendum.
Lastly, in order to be successful, the referendum has 72 hours to collect more than 7.5 million
supporters. In order for the referendum to succeed, the opposition must collect more
supporters than the voters who backed Maduro in the 2013 presidential election (Anon.
2016a).
The first step in this process has already been taken, and succeeded in collecting three times
the amount of signatures needed in order to initiate the referendum. The National Electoral
Board will then verify the signatures and approve the next step. For the opposition, the most
crucial aspect of this process is time. If the recall is successful within the first four years of the
term, new elections will be held. On the other hand, if Maduro is recalled within the last two
years of his term, the vice president would then act as the serving president, postponing the
change of government for another two years (Anon. 2016b).
Allegedly, the second step within the recall process has been achieved. On June 20, it was
reported by the Venezuelan National Electoral Council (CNE), that the recall has collected
1.97 million signatures. However, the CNE had already disregarded 600,000 signatures during
the validation process (Anon. 2016c). Although this would still account for the necessary number
of signatures, the opposition continues to face its biggest challenge with time constraints.
Analysis
Due to the worsening economic situation in Venezuela, the opposition coalition is gaining support.
Venezuelans across the nation have disputed the Amnesty law, but there is widespread despair
as the country has faced shortages of basic food items, medicine, staple goods, work,
education, and even electricity. Venezuela is also home to one of the highest inflation rates in
the world, a factor that has pushed some to support the MUD simply because they want
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