President of Venezuela must run in the election with former deputy María Corina Machado; The date has not yet been set
Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro said he does not know whether he will run in the country's 2024 presidential election. The statement was made in an interview broadcast by state broadcaster Telesur on January 1, 2024.
“It is still premature. The year has just begun. Only God knows… Not Diosdado [Cabello]“God,” Maduro said, referring to Psuv (United Socialist Party of Venezuela) Vice President Diosdado Cabello. The name “Diosdado” is considered number 2 in Chavismo and means “given by God”.
Diosdado Cabello has already said that the political movement considers Maduro as its candidate.
“Let us hope that the electoral scenarios for the process that will take place this year are defined and I am sure that with God's blessing we will make the best decision,” Maduro said.
The date of the presidential elections has not yet been set. On October 22, 2023, Venezuelans went to the polls to participate in the primary elections to elect a single candidate to represent the opposition to Maduro.
The winner of the election was rightwing candidate María Corina Machado, who is currently banned from holding public office for 15 years for attempting a coup and leading antigovernment protests.
Corina was also prevented from leaving Venezuela for nine years and was suspended from office for 12 months in 2015 for allegedly failing to include some benefits she received as a parliamentarian in her asset declaration. She denies the allegations.
On December 16, Corina appealed to the country's Supreme Court to review the ban, stating that the disqualification was illegal. As he left the court, he told reporters that he had “taken a clear step towards the defeat of Maduro in 2024.”
“We are in the middle of very complex and difficult national and international negotiations to hold clean and free presidential elections in 2024 in which we will defeat Nicolás Maduro. We will not give this regime a single excuse to deviate from the electoral course. Let's go to the end. The ball is now in the regime’s court, now it’s your turn to follow the rules.”