Opposition supporters celebrates the closing of a polling station during congressional elections in Caracas, Venezuela, Sunday, Dec. 6, 2015.
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The result was a triumph for the center-right opposition, which has struggled for years for a foothold and has seen many of its leaders jailed.
“Finally we’ve glimpsed the light”, beamed student Yelimar Bayona, 22, as gleeful supporters hugged in the heavily-guarded hotel.
Dogged by a reputation for elitism and coup-mongering after the brief 2002 overthrow of Chavez, foes of “Chavismo” have long struggled to connect with ordinary voters.
“Create and recreate things of the revolution”, said Maduro.
Bonds from the sovereign as well as state oil firm Petroleos de Venezuela (PDVSA) rose as much as 4.2 cents on the dollar, moves expected to extend further if the opposition fulfils its expectations of a two-thirds majority.
Hardliners pine for the release of Lopez, a U.S.-educated activist who led last year’s street movement.
He joined hands with another prominent face in the opposition, Lilian Tintori.
Some in the more moderate factions, meanwhile, support former presidential candidate Henrique Capri les, who chose not to take to the streets despite claiming fraud in the 2013 election that he narrowly lost to Maduro.
Mr Maduro, 53, also called for the opposition to “live together” with his side, a softening of tone from before the polls that seemed aimed at calming tensions.
If the opposition grouping gets two-thirds of the seats in the National Assembly, it is enough for a super majority. The opposition – the Democratic Unity Roundtable – won control of the National Assembly in a vote which brought them 99 seats, compared to just 46 for the United Social Party of Venezuela.
“In Venezuela, peace and democracy must reign”, he said after voting in a working-class neighborhood of Caracas.
“Chavismo”, long united under the larger-than-life and domineering Chavez, frequently pokes fun at the opposition’s inner fissures.
Political analysts point out that the Socialist Party benefits from a geographic distribution of seats that favors historically pro-government rural areas over cities.
The opposition victory deals a serious setback to the socialist revolution started nearly 17 years ago by the late Hugo Chavez, who until his death in 2013 had an almost-magical hold on the political aspirations of Venezuela’s long-excluded masses.
But he blamed his defeat on a campaign by business leaders and other opponents to sabotage the economy. “The Chavistas will go to war with the opposition”, said Diana Areaz, who waited with her friend who makes a living dressing up as Cuban revolutionary Ernesto “Che” Guevara to hear the results.
The likelihood of economic change hinges on whether a chastened Maduro decides to cooperate with his rivals and reform the economy, or instead bunkers down to deepen controls.
The scale of the political quake was such that socialists lost even in Chavez’s home state of Barinas, where Adan Chavez is one of several family members holding high office.
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In a cryptic address late Sunday night before results were announced, Defense Minister Gen. Vladimir Padrino stood with the top military command and congratulated Venezuelans for peacefully fulfilling their civic duty, but in a departure from tradition under Chavez, made no statements in support of the Maduro government.
