They’ve chosen to mount “fraudulent elections,” denounced Maria Corina Machado. The US State Department announced a review of their sanctions on Venezuela.
HAVANA TIMES – Venezuela’s Supreme Court has ratified the disqualification of Maria Corina Machado, presidential candidate for the principal opposition coalition. Their decision bars her from competing in Venezuela’s presidential elections, which are expected to take place in the second half of 2024. The Court also disqualified Henrique Capriles, who has been a presidential contender twice before.
The US State Department criticized the Court ruling, calling it “inconsistent with the commitment by Nicolás Maduro’s representatives to hold a competitive Venezuelan presidential election in 2024.”
In a brief statement on their website, the State Department added: “The prohibition to run lacked basic elements, as Machado neither received a copy of the allegations against her nor was afforded the opportunity to respond to those allegations.”
“This deeply concerning decision runs contrary to the commitments made by Maduro and his representatives under the Barbados electoral roadmap agreement to allow all parties to select their candidates for the presidential election. The United States is currently reviewing our Venezuela sanctions policy, based on this development and the recent political targeting of democratic opposition candidates and civil society,” the statement concluded.
The sentence was handed down by the Supreme Court’s Political Administrative Chamber and was read over Venezuela’s State television channel VTV. The ruling stated that the Supreme Court declared inadmissible the request for precautionary protection filed by the former deputy from the Liberal Party [Machado], who had hoped this sanction would be lifted through the case review mechanism agreed upon between the government and the opposition Unified Democratic Platform. In the case of Capriles, the justification given was that the review request submitted by the former opposition governor, “does not meet the established requirements” of the agreement signed by the government and the opposition for the examination of these cases.
The Court’s “arguments” against Machado
The document specified that Machado was disqualified for having “participated in the corruption conspiracy orchestrated” by former Parliamentary head Juan Guaido, as well as for failing to comply with the Venezuelan norms by accepting “her accreditation as an alternative envoy” at the request of Panama, for a 2014 debate held before the Organization of American States.
On December 15, the last day before the deadline for filing requests, the anti-Chavista candidate formally asked the Supreme Court to review her case and insisted that there is no administrative procedure t
