:quality(75)/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/elcomercio/NRYRA3GWT5H7VFK22U56STNYQQ.jpg)
The serious political crisis that is ravaging Venezuela intensified with the offensive of the Nicolás Maduro regime against the presidential candidacy of Maria Corina Machado. The main opposition leader is fighting a battle against the clock to participate in the July 28 elections, but her fight seems lost: candidate registration began this Thursday and she is still disqualified from running.
TO LOOK: Venezuela: María Corina Machado denounces impediments to registering her presidential candidacy
Candidates have until March 25th to register electronically, but this does not guarantee their candidacy. His candidacy requires the approval of the National Electoral Council (CNE), accused of being loyal to the government.
So far, President Nicolás Maduro is the only candidate of the ruling party and his presence seems to be guaranteed in an election in which the opposition is once again cornered.
Machado won the opposition primaries held on October 22, 2023 and was chosen as a candidate for the Unitary Democratic Platform (PUD), the largest opposition bloc. Polls place her as the winner over Maduro, with 70% acceptance in some cases, notes the AFP agency.
However, she is banned from holding public office for 15 years, as she is accused of corruption and defending a foreign invasion, which her opponent rejects. However, there are several aspects that must be closely monitored in this electoral campaign.
After the court ratified Machado’s disqualification at the beginning of the year, the regime’s attacks on the opposition continued to grow.
The Attorney General’s Office ordered the arrest of several opponents, including Machado’s campaign manager and right-hand woman, Magalli Meda, for their alleged links to a conspiracy to destabilize the government. In total, seven of its collaborators were arrested and another seven have an arrest warrant.
This week, the Public Ministry associated the opposition leader with “destabilizing actions”, although without filing charges against her.
In general, it is expected that Machado’s registration will be blocked by the electoral authority’s automated system and that he will not be able to run as a candidate.
Machado stated yesterday afternoon that he was unable to register his candidacy. “Almost 12 hours after the start of the process, I inform you that the only two democratic unit cards capable of applying to the CNE (MUD and UNT) do not have access to the system to do so,” he said on the social network. “X”.
“They know they are defeated, because they have no way of winning an election against us,” said the opponent a few days ago.
Benigno Alarcón, political scientist and professor at the Andrés Bello Catholic University in Caracas, told the AP agency that “evidently the government’s main concern here is to get rid of the opposition candidate elected in the primaries, María Corina Machado, and reduce any time to continue the debate on its authorization.” “This isn’t exactly an election,” he emphasized.
Despite Maduro’s attack, Machado continued to tour the country to promote his candidacy and called for unity to confront the regime.
“Venezuelan, I ask you for strength and courage in these difficult times. “Today, more than ever, we need to be united and firm to continue moving towards our goals”, he wrote this Wednesday on the social network “X”.
Machado claims that he maintains his intention to run, but promised that he will make the right decision in due time amid pressure from local leaders to give up and support a replacement.
The opposition has only two authorized party votes: that of the MUD, the old alliance replaced by the current Unitary Platform (PUD), and that of Un Nuevo Tiempo (UNT), by Manuel Rosales, current governor of the oil-producing state of Zulia (western ).
The first big problem is that no traditional opposition candidate has support even similar to Machado’s. And a not small detail is that, even if the opponent grants her support and that of her electoral base to another candidate, this does not guarantee that the CNE will approve her registration.
There are also candidates who call themselves anti-Chavistas, but who are considered collaborators with Chavismo by the opposition. This is the case of José Brito or Luis Ratti, who said they will run and maintain an open confrontation with Machado and the PUD.
For now, two politicians presented their candidacies this Thursday. First, it was made by opposition deputy Luis Eduardo Martínez, candidate for the Democratic Action (AD) party, intervened by the Supreme Court of Justice (TSJ) in 2020 and awarded an ad hoc directive.
The second to register as a candidate was former Mayor Daniel Ceballos, one of the politicians from whom the TSJ removed, in January, the disqualifications that prevented them from running for public office. Ceballos identifies himself as a member of the opposition party Voluntad Popular, but that party claims he was excluded because he was a “mandadero” from the government.
Despite the support requested by Machado, the international community has reacted with statements and exhortations to the Maduro regime that have increased in recent days.
This Thursday, the Chilean government expressed its “firm condemnation” of the “arbitrary” detention of Venezuelan opponents and guaranteed that the measure “seriously affects the holding of democratic, transparent and free presidential elections”.
However, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said he regretted “any event that could hinder” the electoral process in Venezuela.
Source: Elcomercio
I am Jack Morton and I work in 24 News Recorder. I mostly cover world news and I have also authored 24 news recorder. I find this work highly interesting and it allows me to keep up with current events happening around the world.
:quality(75)/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/elcomercio/ZPRRVLFLKFAELKZ2AGPPODYZSY.jpg)
