CARACAS, VENEZUELA: Venezuela’s government has been accused of “absolute authoritarianism” after officials closed off the last legal avenue for an increasingly restless opposition, raising concerns of fresh unrest against the deeply unpopular president, Nicolás Maduro.

A ruling on Thursday by election officials closely aligned with the socialist government put the brakes on an attempt to demand a recall referendum against Maduro just days before the opposition was to begin collecting the signatures of 20% of registered voters to force a vote.

On Friday, a court barred eight key opposition leaders from leaving the country without explanation.

“The government has just killed the only democratic window left,” said Nicmer Evans, a leftist political analyst who is deeply critical of Maduro. “The government went from being a competitive authoritarian [regime] to absolute authoritarianism,” he told the Venezuelan news website Efecto Cocuyo.

Carolina Acosta, a Venezuelan professor, tweeted: “The government’s striptease is complete. Before us is the horrible figure of dictatorship.”

Hundreds of university students took to the streets of Caracas, the capital, on Friday to protest against the latest developments, in what may be the only way Venezuelans have left to express their displeasure with the beleaguered government.

Maduro, the political heir of late President Hugo Chávez, has overseen Venezuela’s downward spiral into severe economic crisis and rampant violence. Street demonstrations have been muted since a 2014 crackdown on weeks-long protests left dozens dead.

The biggest protest so far this year saw millions of Venezuelans take to the streets in Caracas on 1 September in what could be a preview of things to come.

“They are playing with fire in terms of social dynamics,” wrote Risa Grais-Targow, director for Latin America of the Eurasia Group, a risk consultancy. “The recall referendum had been serving as an official channel through which voters could voice discontent and removing that channel leaves the streets as the only viable mechanism to effect change.”

Polls show a broad demand for change, with 90% of the population believing that the country is going in the wrong direction, and 76% wanting to see Maduro leave office this year, according to the latest poll from Datanalisis.

The critical situation in the country gave the opposition coalition, known as MUD, a overwhelming victory in December parliamentary elections, giving many Venezuelans hope of change.

But the ruling socialist party and the government have blocked any attempt by the opposition to legislate effectively, earlier this month Maduro circumvented the national assembly altogether in putting forth the national budget to a chamber of the supreme court rather than the legislature.

Officials cited alleged fraud in an initial phase of the recall drive when the opposition collected 1% of voters’ signatures as the reason behind blocking the opposition from moving on to the next stage of the referendum on Maduro’s removal, which was to be held next week. Five different lower courts in different states issued nearly simultaneous rulings on Thursday on the fraud charges prompting the electoral council – which had previously certified the signatures – to call the suspension.

“This 1% is deeply stained with fraud and lies,” said Jorge Rodríguez, the head of the commission that reviewed the initial signatures.

Although the recall campaign was not completely cancelled, the indefinite suspension means that a recall vote will be impossible this year, which would have triggered a new presidential election, giving the opposition the possibility of taking power. A recall in 2017 would leave the socialists in power, under Maduro’s vice-president.

“The suspension shows that the government is not willing to entertain the idea of regime change at all, even if next year,” said Grais-Targow. “The fear of not being able to control a transition has clearly trumped concerns over a social backlash.”

The Venezuelan government and security forces are prepared to control any outburst, says David Smilde, with the Washington Office on Latin America. “They are much less tolerant of protest than a couple of years ago,” he says.

Jesús Torrealba, leader of the opposition coalition known as MUD, said on Friday that by closing off the possibility of a recall, the government was seeking one of two reactions: resignation or violence.

“It wins with both,” he said during an early morning radio address. He called on Venezuelans to abstain from violence but not to give up on seeking Maduro’s removal.

“We cannot fall into a violent response because that’s what they [the government and its supporters] want. But we also cannot docilely accept what is happening.”

Courtesy: The Guardian