Another step backwards for Venezuela. María Corina Machado, who handily won the opposition primary for the 2024 presidential election, is currently out of the race. The Supreme Court, often accused of being at the behest of those in power, confirmed his ineligibility on Friday January 26. Maria Corina Machado, 56, “is disqualified for 15 years,” writes the Court. She judged “null” the request of the candidate, who contested her ineligibility for administrative irregularities and treason after having supported American sanctions against the government of Nicolás Maduro. The opposition has always refused these sanctions, believing that its candidate was innocent.
The so-called “Venezuelan Margaret Thatcher” demanded on Saturday that the Supreme Court reverse its decision, a claim also relayed by Washington. “We ask that this decision be annulled because the procedure was violated,” the head of the opposition delegation in the dialogue process with the government, Gerardo Blyde, told the press, denouncing “a summary trial”. The appeal to the Supreme Court was obtained thanks to pressure from the United States, as part of a Norwegian-mediated negotiation process.
“We are preparing a written complaint that will be sent to the Norwegians and the countries supporting the process, in which we denounce the violation of the agreement,” added Gerardo Blyde. María Corina Machado, candidate of the Sale movement (“Come!”), did not fail to react on Twitter, affirming that President Nicolás Maduro is taking the “worst path” towards “fraudulent elections”. She assures that “this will not happen” and that she “will see it through to the end”. Finally, she adds: “The regime has decided to terminate the Barbados Agreement. What is NOT over is our struggle to achieve democracy through free and fair elections. “
An agreement signed in Barbados in October 2023 opened the possibility for those “aspiring to run” in the 2024 presidential election to challenge their ineligibility. In return, the United States eased the embargo on Venezuelan oil, gas and gold. Indeed, the degraded international context had made the autocratic President Nicolás Maduro once again acceptable against the backdrop of the global energy crisis. With refineries adapted to Venezuelan heavy oil and geographically located on the same continent, the United States still hopes to be able to secure its supplies. A normalization process long pushed by Paris which has multiplied the small diplomatic steps.
But the time for détente has passed and the United States is considering new sanctions. According to Washington, the Supreme Court’s decision, disqualifying the candidate “victorious in the opposition’s democratic primaries, is not consistent with the commitment made by the representatives of (President) Nicolás Maduro to organize a fair presidential election in 2024.” For his part, the government spokesperson in the dialogue, Hector Rodríguez, reacted on Saturday by judging the American sanctions “illegal and politically useless”. The governments of Argentina and Uruguay expressed their “concern” after the Supreme Court’s decision. Ecuador noted that the latter was “contrary to the spirit of the Barbados agreement, which aims to facilitate the holding of democratic and transparent elections in Venezuela.”
“An Iron Lady”
In Venezuela, María Corina Machado is a notable personality, persecuted for decades by those in power. She was one of the first to fight the regime of Hugo Chávez, transformed into a real tyranny under Nicolás Maduro. Accused of administrative irregularities, this “Iron Lady” was declared ineligible for a year in 2015 for having participated as “alternate ambassador” of Panama in a meeting of the Organization of American States (OAS). The opponent saw the duration of her ineligibility extended to 15 years in June 2023, for having “requested the application of American sanctions”. She has always assured that she was never officially informed of this measure.
On a private level, this industrial engineer has not seen her three children for ten years. They are all in exile, while she is not allowed to fly. Too dangerous for President-candidate Maduro? Despite her ineligibility, she received more than 2 million votes (92% of the vote) during the opposition primaries in October. Many observers believe that María Corina Machado, a liberal renowned for her combativeness, may be able to rally behind her an opposition often divided in the past in the face of Nicolás Maduro who in all probability will seek a third presidential term. The Venezuelan head of state would be faced with a dilemma: “If he refuses Machado’s participation, he will have to organize an election that the international community will not recognize, thanks to which he will retain power but will not regain his legitimacy.” said the daily El PaísJanuary 23.
“Trust in the love of freedom of the Venezuelan people”
The country has been led since 1999 by the United Socialist Party of Venezuela (PSUV), which first brought Hugo Chavez to power and then, upon his death in 2013, his successor Nicolás Maduro. Unsurprisingly, María Corina Machado is critical of their choices of diplomatic alliances. “Hugo Chávez has always sought to give himself a role by establishing alliances with countries hostile to the West. He achieved this by getting closer to Cuba, Russia, Iran and China. All these countries allies of the Nicolás Maduro regime seek to undermine and destroy our values of democracy and freedom,” she declared in an interview with L’Express in October 2023.
Unlike her opponent, María Corina Machado “defends privatization and the reduction of the role played by the State in the economic sphere, but is tolerant and flexible on issues such as abortion and homosexual marriage”, ensures El País in an article from September 30, 2023. The one on the right of the political spectrum also wants to privatize the national oil industry, a subject that is still taboo in the country. Carried by an unprecedented popular fervor, María Corina Machado affirmed, again in L’Express, that she had “confidence in the love of freedom of the Venezuelan people”. According to a Delphos poll, 85% of Venezuelans want a change of government. It remains to be seen whether Nicolás Maduro is ready for such a situation.