Venezuela's Opposition Removes Hugo Chavez Portraits From National Assembly

The leader of Venezuela's conservative MUD coalition in the legislature, Henry Ramos Allup, ordered the removal of portraits of former President Hugo Chavez from the National Assembly.

Aside from images of Chavez, portraits of the Latin American liberator Simon Bolivar were also removed.

According to the Havana Times, Ramos Allup instructed that the portraits of Chavez be taken to the late leader's hometown of Sabaneta.

“He who wants to light candles for Chavez can do that in Sabaneta," Ramos Allup said. “Take the images to his daughters and widows. This place is no cemetery.”

Telesur reports that Venezuela’s socialist coalition has taken serious offence to the removal of portraits of historically important leaders from the National Assembly.

As previously reported, Ramos Allup announced on Jan. 5 that his party would soon take measures to force Socialist President Nicolas Maduro out of office. Speaking at the National Assembly swearing-in ceremony, Ramos Allup said Venezuelans could expect a change in their government within six months.

"Here and now, things will change," he said.

Taking down the pictures of Chavez, who was in power from 1999 to 2013, clearly shows that the right-leaning opposition is interested in trying to change the past as well as the future.

Victor Clark, ruling party legislator for the United Socialist Party of Venezuela, denounced the removal of the portraits on Jan. 6.

“Even if the parliament believes those paintings should not be in the palace, the Venezuelan people think that they should, they are disrespecting political identity,” he said.

According to Clark, when the Venezuelan people saw the removal of the portraits they were moved to protest.

On Wednesday, all members of the right-wing MUD coalition were sworn into the National Assembly, including the three lawmaker who were previously suspended from joining the legislature until an inquiry into electoral fraud could be conducted.

As the BBC reports, the swearing in of the suspended lawmaker defies a supreme court ruling and provides the opposition party with a two-thirds super-majority.