Venezuela court disqualifies leading opposition presidential candidate Machado

Venezuela’s Supreme Justice Tribunal has confirmed a ban preventing presidential candidate Maria Corina Machado from assuming office, disrupting the opposition’s preparations for the upcoming elections later this year. Despite winning over 90% of the votes in the opposition’s independently organized presidential primary last October, Machado faces a 15-year ban imposed by the government shortly after officially entering the race in June. Following the court’s decision last week, Machado expressed on social media that her campaign’s commitment to achieving democracy through free and fair elections persists.

In a post, the 56-year-old stated, “Maduro and his criminal system have opted for the worst course: fraudulent elections. That will not happen. Let there be no doubt, this fight is to the end.” The court’s ruling coincided with the detention of three allies of Machado, Guillermo Lopez, Luis Camacaro, and Juan Freites, from her Vente Venezuela party. They were accused by Attorney General Tarek Saab of participating in a group of at least 11 individuals attempting to steal military weapons last year, with plans for an assault on a pro-Maduro state governor. Saab labeled the trio as “criminals” on state television, heightening tensions between Maduro’s government and the political opposition.

According to a statement on X, the Vente Venezuela party revealed that Camacaro and Freites appeared in a Caracas court on Thursday without legal representation or permission to contact their families, denouncing the proceeding as “illegal and arbitrary.” The post did not mention Lopez.

The court maintained its findings that Machado supported US sanctions, was involved in corruption, and caused financial losses to Venezuela’s foreign assets, including the US-based oil refiner Citgo and Colombian chemicals company Monomeros.

The US government criticized the court’s decision to uphold Machado’s ban, warning that it could strain relations between the two countries. State Department spokesman Matthew Miller stated, “The United States is currently reviewing our Venezuela sanctions policy, based on this development and the recent political targeting of democratic opposition candidates and civil society.”

The US has linked the continuation of sanctions relief for Venezuela, granted in October through an electoral deal signed in Barbados, to the release of political prisoners by Maduro and the resolution of cases involving detained Americans. Maduro declared last week the Barbados agreement as “mortally wounded” after claiming to have thwarted multiple assassination plots.

In response, Machado asserted, “The regime decided to finish off the agreement in Barbados. What it didn’t finish was our fight to see democracy win via free and fair elections,” in a message conveyed through X.

Maduro, the successor to former President Hugo Chavez, has been in power since 2013. Although he has not officially announced his candidacy for re-election, it is widely anticipated that he will seek a third six-year term in 2024. A victory would extend his tenure until 2030, surpassing Chavez’s 11-year rule.