Maduro applies the Chavista law to separate a new opposition leader

2023-07-02 18:19:07

“A useless ‘disqualification’ that only shows that the regime knows that it is already defeated. Now we will vote with more force, more rebellion and more desire in the primaries. Here who empowers is the people of Venezuela. Until the end is until the end!». This declaration of intent corresponds to María Corina Machado, 57 years old, founder of the Vente Venezuela political movement, after being disqualified from competing for a popularly elected position for the next 15 years. Machado had registered to participate in the opposition primaries that will take place on October 22.

The disqualification, on the one hand, complicates Machado’s run for the presidency of Venezuela in the 2024 elections, and on the other, it confirms that the Nicolás Maduro regime continues with its policy of removing from the road any opposition adversary that comes its way. The Chavista leader already announced a few months ago, after the dialogue tables in Mexico and Bogotá, that there will be free elections in his country when Venezuela is free of sanctions and “unilateral coercive measures. Either there are sanction-free elections or there are sanction-free elections. That’s the dilemma,” he said.

Maduro seemed to be maturing towards a democracy demanded by the international community, with which lately he seemed to have approximated positions, even with the US, all a direct consequence of the energy crisis caused by the war between Russia and Ukraine.

The disqualification of María Corina Machado has had reactions against the Maduro regime of all political colors. The US government, through the mediation of Matthew Miller, spokesman for the State Department, expressed its concern about the decree to remove a candidate from an election. “This decision deprives the Venezuelan people of basic political rights,” Miller declared.

The ban on the candidate was also criticized by Gustavo Petro, president of Colombia, who until now had made efforts to serve as a mediator in the dialogue process between the opposition and Chavismo. “It is clear that no administrative authority should take away political rights from any citizen,” he wrote on Twitter.

Abascal and Feijóo

But direct support for Machado has also been conveyed to him by right-wing politicians such as Alejandro Abascal, from Vox: «The socialist tyrant Maduro has disabled the brave María Corina Machado. My solidarity with her and with the Venezuelan people.” Also Alberto Núñez Feijoo, leader of the Popular Party, encouraged Machado “in this difficult moment for you and for Venezuela.”

The Comptroller General of Venezuela justifies the disqualification of Machado after a patrimonial investigation in which the Prosecutor’s Office has found actions that violate public ethics, administrative morality, the rule of law, peace and the sovereignty of Venezuela. She is also accused of having participated in a corruption scheme orchestrated by Juan Guaidó, a former opposition deputy who for many years was considered interim president of Venezuela by the international community. “I would tell the regime that despair is a bad adviser, and it seems that they are very desperate because they do nothing but make mistakes, after mistakes,” Machado warned.