CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) — This is the story of two dramatically different political movements.
On Monday, a crowd of supporters of President Nicolás Maduro gathered at a huge stage draped in the red, yellow and blue of the Venezuelan flag outside the headquarters of the Electoral Commission, where the president will hold a 3-day rally that will last until 2031. He officially announced his candidacy for a new term. Rivals tried to register a candidate, an 80-year-old unknown newcomer, before the looming deadline, but found they could not. Opposition parties denounced it as the latest attack on Venezuela’s democracy.
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Opinion polls show Venezuelans would defeat unpopular President Maduro in a landslide if given even half a chance.
On Monday, March 25, 2024, in Caracas, Venezuela, he and his wife Cilia Flores arrive in a convertible at the National Electoral Commission (CNE) to officially announce their re-candidacy for the presidential election, speaking to supporters. Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro gestures. The election is set for July 28th. (AP Photo/Matthias Delacroix)
But the self-described socialist has so far repeatedly negotiated and reneged on the minimum electoral guarantees he promised the U.S. government in exchange for relief from oil sanctions, while reneging on key opponents. He has succeeded in preventing him from running.
In a creative attempt to force President Maduro’s authoritarian hand, two small opposition parties previously allowed to participate in July’s tightly controlled elections announced last week that former academic Corinna Yoris was nominated.
The protest’s candidacy surprised foes and allies alike. Although she is an academic who has taught logic and philosophy at several Venezuelan universities, she is little known even among the opposition. Her only public political role to date was as a member of the committee that organized last year’s opposition primaries. In the primary, 2.4 million voters in Venezuela and abroad chose a candidate to run against Mr. Maduro, defying the government’s threat of criminal prosecution.
But her relative anonymity, squeaky clean record, and loving grandma-like vibe quickly became part of her appeal. Even her name, Colina, is considered an asset, a subtle reminder of her namesake ally, Maria Colina Machado. After she overwhelmingly won the primary election last October, her candidacy was barred by the Maduro-controlled Supreme Court.
“We have exhausted all possibilities,” Yoris said at a press conference on Monday, detailing failed attempts to register his candidacy both electronically and in person. “It’s not just Corinna Joris’ name that’s being denied, but also the names of the people who want her to run.”
In registering his candidacy on Monday, Maduro did not mention Yoris by name and accused his rival of being a “puppet” of traditional elites.
He expressed his re-election challenge from a historical perspective, calling it a continuation of the Bolivarian Revolution that the late Hugo Chávez started a quarter of a century ago, and the unraveling of state power in Venezuela by the US “empire.” said that it is the only way to protect Venezuela’s sovereignty in the midst of its efforts. “Cut into” the oil wealth of OPEC countries.
“All I can humbly say is that I am made of the same muddy soil as you,” he said in a televised address to the National Election Commission.
Ten candidates have so far registered to take part in July’s elections, but some are not affiliated with the main opposition coalition and several pose little threat to President Maduro’s power base. It is considered. Once political parties have registered their candidates, they have until April 16 to nominate an alternative candidate.
Mr. Maduro’s supporters have wasted little time targeting Mr. Colina since he was tapped to lead the opposition’s campaign.
Over the weekend, several members of the ruling Socialist Party said on social media that Mr. Yoris is ineligible to run because he is a Uruguayan citizen and the Venezuelan constitution requires that the president be a natural-born citizen without dual citizenship. insisted.
Mr. Yoris on Monday dismissed such stories as a desperate ploy to disqualify him from running.
“I was born in Caracas and my parents were born in Venezuela, but I have never chosen any other nationality,” she said.
Venezuela’s elections are being held against the backdrop of President Maduro’s growing crackdown on opposition aimed at retaining power. In addition to blocking Machado’s candidacy, the government last week issued arrest orders for several of his aides. Earlier this year, he jailed a prominent human rights lawyer, then shut down the UN human rights office and gave international staff 72 hours to leave the country for criticizing the arrests.
But rather than boycotting the vote, as they did in 2018 when Maduro was re-elected to a second six-year term, the opposition accused Maduro of bluffing and forced him to steal votes outright. Trying to.
The strategy appears to have the full backing of US President Joe Biden’s administration, which so far eased it last year in response to the electoral security agreement reached by Maduro and rebels in Barbados. Japan is in no hurry to reimpose oil sanctions that have been imposed.
While some of the pledges have been partially fulfilled, others, such as the right of each political movement to freely choose its candidates, have been largely ignored and the wisdom of an intervention approach that has so far only emboldened Maduro. It is raising doubts. .
“President Maduro and his criminal perpetrators could learn a lesson from the Venezuelan opposition about patriotism, sacrifice, and patriotism,” Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., formerly of Twitter, wrote on X. stated in the message posted. weekend. “Their candidates must be allowed to register by Monday, otherwise sanctions relief must be discontinued.”
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Jeff Ramsey, a senior analyst on Venezuela at the Atlantic Council in Washington, said the Biden administration is seeking to maintain some influence over Maduro while silencing skeptics who think it is being too accommodating toward Caracas. He said he was in a difficult position.
“The United States will almost certainly need to lift some sanctions, but there are ways to do so while remaining at the negotiating table with the administration,” he said. “But the president’s hands will be tied if Machado and the broader opposition cannot even register as candidates.”
