Presidential elections in Venezuela: main opponent fired, US considering sanctions

A stormy start to the presidential campaign in Venezuela. Maria Corina Machado, who easily won the Venezuelan opposition’s primaries for the 2024 presidential election, is now dropping out of the race: Venezuela’s Supreme Court, often accused of acting at the behest of those in power, confirmed her disqualification this Friday.

Maria Machado, 56, is “disqualified for 15 years,” the court wrote, invalidating the petition of a candidate who challenged her disqualification for administrative violations and treason after supporting U.S. sanctions against the government of Nicolas Maduro. The opposition has always refused these sanctions, believing that Maria Machado is innocent.

“Rigged Elections”

President Nicolas Maduro is taking the “worst path” to “rigged elections,” reacted Maria Machado. “This will not happen. Let no one doubt it, we will go to the end,” she said on TV Channel X. “The regime has decided to terminate the Barbados Agreement. What is NOT over is our fight for the victory of democracy through free and fair elections.” , she added.

The court’s decision was eagerly awaited: the opposition, which boycotted the 2018 presidential election, and the United States have made overturning the disqualification of opponents one of their top priorities.

Many observers believe Maria Machado, a liberal known for her hawkishness, may be able to rally the often divided opposition in the past against Nicolas Maduro, who is seeking a third term as president.

The government often used the stratagem of disqualification to exclude challengers at both the national and local levels. The abolition of the disqualification of opponents is one of the main stumbling blocks in negotiations between the government and the opposition. The agreement they signed in Barbados in October 2023 opened the door for those “aspiring to stand” in the 2024 presidential election to challenge their ineligibility. Maria Machado appealed the matter.

Have American sanctions been restored?

The Barbados Agreement also stipulated that presidential elections would be held in the second half of 2024, with international observers present. The United States announced a six-month easing of its sanctions following these agreements.

Following this decision, the United States is considering reinstating sanctions. The United States, which announced in mid-October a reduction in sanctions imposed on Caracas in the gas and oil sectors, “is in the process of reviewing its sanctions policy (…) based on these events and recent political attacks on Caracas. candidates from the democratic opposition and civil society,” said spokesman Matthew Miller.