CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) – Venezuela's Supreme Court on Friday upheld a candidacy ban imposed by the socialist-led government on longtime government opponent and U.S.-backed opposition candidate Maria Colina Machado. did.
Machado, a former lawmaker, won the opposition party's own presidential primary in October with more than 90% of the vote. Her victory came days after she officially entered the race in June, despite the government announcing a 15-year ban on her running for public office.
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She was able to participate in the primary because the effort was organized by a commission independent of Venezuela's electoral authorities.
Machado rejected the ban and continued his campaign. She claimed she never received formal notice of the ban and insisted that voters were the legitimate decision-makers of her candidacy.
Venezuela's Supreme Court has barred opposition leader Maria Colina Machado from running for president. ((AP Photo/Eduardo Verdugo))
In December, Machado filed a petition with the Supreme Court seeking an injunction to find the ban invalid and protect her political rights.
Instead, the court ruled against her and upheld the ban.
Blocking Machado and other candidates from running would violate an agreement last year between President Nicolás Maduro's government and the U.S.-backed opposition.
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A deal signed by the rival sides on the Caribbean island of Barbados in October allows the U.S. government to ease some sanctions on Venezuela's oil, gas and mining industries.
However, the US President Joe Biden's administration has announced that if the Maduro regime fails to lift the ban that prevents Machado and others from taking office as president and fails to release political prisoners and unjustly detained Americans, the US President Joe Biden's administration has announced that it will not be able to provide relief if the Maduro regime fails to lift the ban that prevents Machado and others from taking office as president. He is threatening to cancel the department.
