Elections may bring new instability in Venezuela

Significance By contrast, the opposition Unitary Platform (UP) and its presidential candidate Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia continue to skirt important questions relating to governance and policy in a post-Chavista landscape. Impacts Lack of clarity from Gonzalez risks fuelling uncertainty, popular disaffection and abstention. Washington will be disquieted by any decline in opposition traction, but its energies and attention are elsewhere. Maduro’s campaign will continue to focus on pre-election benefits for ‘hard’ Chavistas to ensure a solid loyalist turnout.