1 of 1 María Corina Machado, one of the main figures in the opposition to Maduro in Venezuela Photo: Ariana Cubillos/AP María Corina Machado, one of the main figures in the opposition to Maduro in Venezuela Photo: Ariana Cubillos/AP
Venezuela is holding primaries this Sunday (22) to find a rival for Nicolás Maduro in 2024.
She can run in the primaries because the opposition casts that vote without government support, but she will not be able To with electoral authorities to appear on the presidential election ballot.
The country’s presidential election will take place in the second half of 2024, the election agreement says, and international observers will be allowed to monitor the vote.
Each side can choose its candidate according to its internal rules, but this agreement did not lift bans already imposed on some opposition figures including Maria Corina Machado.
The opposition claimed that the bans imposed by the Auditor General were illegal. The US government rejected any obstacles to opposition candidates.
Nevertheless, the Venezuelan government was inflexible. Jorge Rodríguez, head of the government delegation, said in a press conference after the signing that in the event of a decision by the Supreme Comptroller of the Republic “you cannot run, I want to make that clear.”
The head of the opposition delegation, Gerardo Blyde, told Rodríguez that the deal could allow banned candidates to “regain their rights.”
- Former Venezuelan MP Juan Requesens
- The journalist Roland Carreño, associate of the political leader Juan Guaidó,
- Marco Garcés Carapaica, university student arrested in 2020 for being in the same vehicle as a former American Marine;
- Mariana Barreto, arrested for protesting against gasoline supply irregularities in 2019
- Eurinel Rincón, who was a secretary in the Ministry of Defense and was accused of treason and leaking information after appearing in a photo next to an opposition politician.
The US relaxed sanctions after the agreement
In return, the Americans demanded an end to the disqualifications of politicians and the release of political prisoners in Venezuela.
Washington had promised to lift sanctions if Caracas took concrete steps towards free and transparent elections in 2024.
The oil embargo, in effect since April 2019, restricted sales vital to the country’s economy.
A second license allows transactions with Venezuelan stateowned company Minerven to “reduce gold trading in the informal market,” the Finance Ministry said.
Two licenses were also amended “to lift the ban on secondary trading of certain securities of PDVSA,” the Venezuelan oil company. The trading ban on the primary market remains in effect.
President Maduro expressed satisfaction with the measures announced after months of behindthescenes negotiations. With these agreements, Venezuela is “returning to the oil and gas market strengthened in a progressive way,” he said happily.
US releases Venezuelan oil after Maduro releases political prisoners