Victory for Bolivarian Revolution as Venezuelans elect new National Assembly

Caracas, December 7 (RHC)-- Shortly after 1 a.m. Monday morning in Caracas, the President of the National Electoral Council (CNE), Indira Alfonzo, reported that the Gran Polo Patriótico (GPP) achieved the victory in Venezuela's National Assembly election.  

The head of the CNE announced that with 82.35% of tally sheets counted, and 31% of participation, the GPP (which includes the governing United Socialist Party of Venezuela (Partido Socialista Unido de Venezuela, PSUV) received 3,558,320 votes (67.6%).

A number of opposition parties had urged their supporters to boycott the vote.  However, those who did run in the elections gained 18 percent of the vote.  

On Sunday afternoon, after casting his vote in Caracas, Nicolas Maduro told reporters that the time had come to end the opposition's domination of the old National Assembly.  The Venezuelan president held the legislative body responsible for "the plague of sanctions, cruelty, pain and suffering" inflicted on the country. 

The legislative elections in Venezuela, contested by about 14,000 candidates from more than 100 parties, comes at a time of crippling sanctions designed and executed by Washington and its allies, in an attempt to crush the Bolivarian Revolution.