Venezuela's Supreme Court judges have upheld the ban on opposition leader María Corina Machado from holding public and political office for the next 15 years and therefore from running for the presidency in elections scheduled for the second half of this year.
The ruling underlines that Machado “was involved in various actions that affected the peace and sovereignty of the country,” confirming the decision made last June. In this way, Machado's race for the presidency appears to have stalled after she won the primary three months ago with over 92% of the vote.
“The regime of Nicolas Maduro has decided to terminate the Barbados Agreement,” commented Machado, adding that the head of state “and his criminal system have chosen the worst path: fraudulent elections.”
The United States and other countries have repeatedly called for the rehabilitation of opposition candidates ahead of elections, for which a date has not yet been set.
During negotiations held in Barbados last year, Maduro's government and the opposition agreed to organize a free and fair vote in 2024 with international observers present. It was precisely because of this agreement that Washington began to ease sanctions against Venezuela. And in recent days, ambassadors and diplomatic representatives of European countries accredited to the South American state have been working with the EU delegation in Caracas on an agenda for meetings to implement the agreement.
But earlier this week, Machado had already denounced “intimidation” by supporters of President Nicolas Maduro, vandalism against his party headquarters and arrests. And the alliance of Venezuelan oppositions gathered in the United Platform had spoken of a “new wave of repression” and “human rights violations” by the authorities against the organization.
On Tuesday, Maduro welcomed a march that took to the streets after announcing the arrest of 32 people blamed for five alleged plots to assassinate him in 2023, and ordered his supporters to unleash what he called “Bolivarian rage” in response. to launch attacks against his person. And on Wednesday, Venezuelan armed forces expelled 33 soldiers who were accused of “treason” for allegedly engaging in subversive actions against the executive branch.
Yesterday, Venezuela's president warned that agreements with the opposition were “fatally violated” after plots were uncovered that included his assassination. And a few hours earlier, Jorge Rodríguez, head of the government delegation to negotiations with the opposition, said he would hand over all evidence of the destabilizing plans to European mediators.
In addition to Machado, the Supreme Court, in a separate ruling, confirmed the ban from holding public office until 2032 for two-time presidential candidate Henrique Capriles, who also cannot run in the next parliamentary elections.
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