Caracas | AFP
María Corina Machado, considered the main opponent of the Venezuelan regime, ruled out abandoning her presidential candidacy, although the local court, allied with dictator Nicolás Maduro, upheld the decision that barred her from running for 15 years. She had been selected in a primary to run in the election that was scheduled to take place later this year, but a date has not yet been set.
“Maduro will not elect the popular candidate because the people have already elected their candidate,” she told her supporters this Monday (29), three days after confirming her ineligibility, in a decision that she described as “grotesque”.
Trained engineer María Corina, 56, was deemed ineligible for the first time in 2015 and was unable to run for a year. The Venezuelan Chief Auditor justified this at the time by saying that she had committed administrative irregularities during her term as deputy from 2011 to 2014.
However, the deprivation of her political rights came after she denounced alleged human rights violations during protests against Maduro while attending an OAS (Organization of American States) meeting as Panama's “alternative ambassador” the regime stated that her presence at the meeting was during her time During her term as a representative, she violated Article 191 of the Constitution, which prevents members of Congress from accepting positions from foreign governments.
Last June, María Corina was disqualified again, this time for 15 years. The measure also affected other critics of the regime, such as Henrique Capriles, a twotime presidential candidate, and Juan Guaidó, who was recognized by more than 50 countries as interim president of Venezuela between 2019 and 2022. Last week he filed a complaint with the Supreme Court.
“I received the mandate of almost three million Venezuelans who exercised popular sovereignty on October 22.” [data das primárias]” she said, ruling out choosing a replacement for the election. “I represent popular sovereignty. Without me they can’t hold elections.”
On Monday, the US reimposed sanctions on Venezuela after confirming María Corina's nonadmission. The US Treasury Department said in a statement that it had set February 13 as the deadline for the settlement of all transactions between American organizations and Minerven, a stateowned gold mining company in Venezuela.
Transactions with the mining company were approved in October as part of an easing of sanctions aimed at allowing free elections in Venezuela involving European Union observers and other international representatives.
On Tuesday (30), Venezuelan Energy Minister Pedro Tellechea said that Caracas was prepared for any scenario, including the reintroduction of American sanctions against its oil exports.
Political disqualifications are an old weapon used by Chavismo against rivals. They are imposed by the Comptroller General, who has the legal authority to take action against officials under investigation, although the Constitution states that only a final court decision prevents someone from running for president.
The auditor accuses María Corina of committing administrative irregularities during the period in which she served as deputy, from 2011 to 2014. The opponent denies any irregularities and claims to be a victim of political persecution. She also says that she was never informed of the administrative act and was unable to defend herself.
Opponents of the regime called last Saturday (27) for the decision to be repealed, assuming that they would denounce the situation to Norway, the country mediating the negotiations, as well as to other governments involved in the dialogue processes. However, the Maduro regime ruled out any change.
“This is a final decision and a definitely firm decision,” Maduro said on Monday during his weekly Con Maduro broadcast. “That’s what happened, it was a group, I think nine opposition leaders with disqualification issues. They came with their resources freely and voluntarily, no one forced them, I didn’t force any of them.” [a entrar com o processo].”