Maria Corina Machado: Venezuela’s Supreme Court confirms disqualification of opposition presidential candidate

The Venezuelan Supreme Court this Friday confirmed the political disqualification from holding public office against opposition presidential candidate María Corina Machado, according to a decision reported on the organization’s website.

“Citizen María Corina Machado Pariska is disqualified from participating in public functions for a period of 15 years,” the supreme court said.

Machado was chosen as the unity candidate of President Nicolas Maduro’s opposition in primary elections held in October, in which he won a landslide victory.

Weeks later, following the signing of the so-called Barbados Agreements between the government and the Venezuelan opposition, which were intended to facilitate the holding of guaranteed presidential elections in Venezuela this year, Machado asked the court to clarify whether he would face disqualification. is under the.

The leader of the Vente Venezuela movement has said he was never formally informed of any disqualification, so he cannot be deprived of the right to challenge Maduro for the presidency in elections this year. Is.

This Friday, after hearing the court’s decision, Machado published on his X account that “the regime has decided to terminate the Barbados agreement.”

“Our fight to win democracy through free and fair elections is not over yet,” he said.

Machado accused Maduro and his “criminal apparatus” of choosing the path of “fraudulent elections”.“, and predicted that “it’s not going to happen.”

Last June, Venezuela’s Comptroller General (CGR) reported that it declared Machado ineligible to hold elected office for a period of 15 years.

The information was announced by Deputy Jose Brito, a member of the National Assembly controlled by the ruling party.

The disqualification was then justified by Machado’s support for United States sanctions against the government of Nicolás Maduro, as well as his support for Juan Guaidó, an opposition leader who presides over the Venezuelan parliament and who in January impeached Venezuela. Was declared interim President. In 2019, Maduro began a second term after being re-elected in a vote deemed fraudulent by the US, EU and other countries.

For the Venezuelan opposition, Machado’s veto represents an attempt by Maduro to avoid facing a more popular leader and once again distort the verdict of the elections.

The veto of Machado’s confirmation as a presidential candidate represents a serious blow to the negotiation process initiated in Barbados.

The United States, which temporarily eased sanctions on the Maduro government in October due to an agreement on electoral guarantees, agreed to begin lifting sanctions on Caracas and releasing political prisoners and “detained” Americans. A condition has been laid to continue the review. This is inappropriate.”

Removing the disqualification imposed on key opposition figures, such as Machado or Henrique Capriles, was one of the conditions demanded by Washington.

The agreement signed in October allows opposition candidates to appeal their disqualification before the country’s highest court, which has repeatedly ruled in favor of government interests over the years.

Machado went to the Supreme Court in December and has now received confirmation that they will not let him run.

A day earlier, the Vice President and leading figure in the Venezuelan government, Delcy Rodríguez, had announced that Machado could not be a candidate.

Rodríguez also endorsed Nicolás Maduro as the candidate of the ruling United Socialist Party of Venezuela (PSUV).

The political climate in Venezuela has recently deteriorated again. The government condemned an alleged plot to assassinate Maduro and accused journalists and activists of being part of it.

Shortly before, three regional leaders of Machado’s campaign were arrested and linked to an alleged conspiracy against the government, according to allegations by Attorney General Tarek William Saab, previously a constituent deputy and governor for Chavismo. There were elections.

Guillermo Lopez, Luis Camacaro and Juan Freitas, who are already in custody, were part of a group of at least 11 people who allegedly tried to rob a military weapons park last year, Saab said. And then pro-government Governor Freddy Bernal was attacked. State. Border of Táchira, Colombia.

Amid these allegations of plots to detain civilians and soldiers, Maduro said on Thursday that the agreements his government had signed with the opposition through October 2023 are “mortally wounded”.

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