2024-01-26 23:07:07
The Supreme Court of Justice (TSJ) of Venezuela ratified this Friday that the presidential candidate of the main opposition coalition, María Corina Machado, has a 15-year disqualification that prevents her from competing in the elections scheduled for the second half of this year to confront Chavismo.
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Through a ruling from the Political-Administrative Chamber, the Supreme Court declared inadmissible the request for precautionary protection introduced by the former liberal deputy, who hoped that this sanction would be lifted through this case review mechanism agreed between the Government and the opposition Unitary Platform. Democratic (PUD).
The letter details that Machado is disqualified for having “been a participant in the corruption plot orchestrated” by the former head of Parliament Juán Guaidó, as well as for failing to comply with Venezuelan regulations, by accepting “accreditation as an alternate representative” of Panama before the Organization of the American States (OAS), in a debate held in 2014.
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Guaidó, today in exile, was recognized as the country’s interim president by more than 60 countries, including the United States, which unsuccessfully pressured Maduro’s fall with sanctions.
Machado’s response
In his account on the social network Norway and the United States.
“Maduro and his criminal system chose the worst path for them: fraudulent elections. That is not going to happen. Let no one doubt it, this is until the end,” he said.
For his part, Chavismo’s chief negotiator, Jorge Rodríguez, insisted that the ruling party complied with what was signed.
“Despite the serious threats from far-right sectors once morest the peace of the Republic, the mechanism established within the framework of the Barbados Agreements has been complied with. Let’s keep moving forward. Elections in 2024 rain, shine or lightning!!!
What the lawyers explain
For Alí Daniels, director of the NGO Acceso a la Justicia, the decision regarding Machado is different from those of other politicians, such as Capriles, who will also remain disqualified.
This decision regarding María Corina is particular because in the case of Capriles, although the sentence is final, a trial was given in 2017, but in her case “who, as we all know, filed the appeal in December, in a single act the The appeal was admitted, they declared themselves competent, the precautionary measure was declared without merit, but the appeal itself was also declared without merit, that is, the trial to arrange was already terminated.”
For Daniels, it is premature to give more opinions since we have to see how the events develop.
Barbados in suspense
With this decision, Barbados undoubtedly enters a delicate phase, since one of the important pressures from the United States was the authorization of Machado, but also of the rest of the politicians who were in the situation.
So far, at least six opponents have been qualified and regarding three remain disqualified for 15 years.
The decision
The TSJ, with an official line, created a mechanism to challenge disqualifications for those who “aspire to run” for the 2024 presidential elections, under pressure from the United States and in the midst of the agreements signed in Barbados by the government and opposition in a negotiation process half of Norway.
On December 15 – the last day of the deadline set for receiving applications – Machado, who swept the October primaries with more than 2 million votes (90%), went to the TSJ to request a review of his case. and insisted that there is no administrative procedure that disqualifies her.
Machado had been disqualified for a year in 2015 for attending as Panama’s “alternate ambassador” to a meeting of the Organization of American States where she denounced alleged human rights violations during the protests that year called for “the departure” of Maduro and left 40 dead.
But the sanction was extended to 15 years last June for having “requested the application of sanctions and economic blockade that caused damage to Venezuelan health.” The sanction became known following opposition deputy José Brito requested information regarding the political status of the anti-Chavista from the Comptroller General’s Office.
The leader maintained that she was never notified regarding the measure, which she always called illegal.
The decision published this Friday establishes that his sanction has a duration of 15 years, counting from September 2021.
The decision, in that sense, effectively closes the possibility that he might face Maduro, Chavismo’s natural candidate, in the elections scheduled for the second half of this year with international observation, also part of what was agreed in Barbados.
In December, Machado expressed his willingness to “do everything that has to be done” so that the path towards “clean and free” presidential elections is maintained and advanced, so going to the TSJ was, in his opinion, an “unequivocal step in the direction of defeat” of Maduro.
Other decisions of the TSJ
Earlier, the TSJ also ratified the disqualification of Henrique Capriles, who faced former President Hugo Chávez in 2012 and a year later once morest Maduro.
Political disqualifications are an old weapon of Chavismo to get its rivals out of the way. They are imposed by the Comptroller’s Office, empowered by law to take measures once morest officials under investigation, although the Constitution establishes that only a “definitely firm” judicial ruling prevents aspiring to the presidency.
The Supreme Court, however, reported decisions favorable to the leaders Leocenis García, a former prisoner and leader not aligned with the traditional opposition; Richard Mardo, a former parliamentarian; the former governor of the state of Zulia (west), Pablo Pérez; and Daniel Ceballos, former “political prisoner” and former mayor of San Cristóbal (Táchira, west).
Capriles, who gave up participating in the opposition primaries last October, in which Machado swept, did not adhere to the Barbados mechanism. The Chamber responded to an appeal filed in 2017, the year in which he was sanctioned for alleged administrative irregularities during his term as governor of the state of Miranda (2013-2017), which covers part of Caracas.
“What they will never be able to disable is the feeling of change among Venezuelans,” Capriles wrote in alternative that competes and can change the worst government in history.
The challenge mechanism was created under pressure from the United States, which conditioned it on the easing of US sanctions on Venezuelan oil, gas and gold for six months.
The negotiations also led to the release of prisoners in Venezuela in exchange for the release in the United States of Colombian businessman Alex Saab, accused by the opposition of being a “front man” for Maduro and who was being tried in Florida for money laundering.
ANA MARÍA RODRÍGUEZ BRAZÓN
TIME CORRESPONDENT
CARACAS
1706317921
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