As the ballots are counted from Sunday’s parliamentary elections, it appears that Venezuela’s opposition has made critical gains. Turnout was high, and Chávez’s United Socialist Party, is believed to have gained a majority of seats. Still, two-thirds is the magic threshold for Chávez to enact further reforms to strengthen his power. Short of that, Chávez’s party will have to find allies among the opposition. Chávez stands for re-election as president in 2012.
