In a last-minute legal move on Friday, Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado filed a court appeal to reverse the ban on her holding public office, as she endeavors to challenge President Nicolas Maduro in the 2024 elections.
‘Maduro will have to decide whether… to comply or not to comply with the agreements he has assumed with actors of the international community,’ Machado told journalists as she left the Supreme Court.
Last month in Barbados, negotiators representing both Maduro and the opposition reached an agreement to take measures paving the way for a competitive election.
The agreement stipulated that opposition figures had until December 15 to formally challenge the bans prohibiting them from holding public office.
Following her resounding victory in an opposition primary in October, Machado chose not to seek her political reinstatement at the Supreme Court earlier in the week, an institution widely viewed by the opposition as aligned with the Maduro government.
As a tactic to sideline potential electoral opposition, the Maduro government has extensively utilized political disqualifications, directed by the Comptroller’s Office.
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Machado, a former legislator, called her disqualification “a non-existent act,” alleging that she was never formally notified of it.
She said her actions at the Supreme Court were part of ‘a complex negotiation process’ with one purpose ‘to have clean and free elections.’
The US government, following the Barbados agreement, decided to ease sanctions on Venezuelan oil, gas, and gold for six months, hinging the move on the condition that bans on opposition figures be lifted, among other specified actions.
‘We applaud Maria Corina Machado and other candidates for their courage and willingness to appeal their ineligibilities,’ the US Embassy for Caracas, which operates out of Bogota, posted on X, formerly Twitter.
‘Now it is up to the representatives of Nicholas Maduro to demonstrate their commitment to competitive… elections.’
Jorge Rodriguez, at the helm of the ruling party-controlled National Assembly, voiced rejection of the U.S. statement.
‘It is not (an) embassy accredited in our country, but a propaganda office at the service of the darkest interests against the peace of Venezuela,’ he wrote on X. ‘Venezuela accepts no directives from anyone.’