One of the favorite pre-candidates for the presidential elections scheduled for 2024 in Venezuela, the opposition María Corina Machado, was disqualified from holding public office for 15 years, according to a document from the Comptroller’s Office, pro-government, released this Friday.
The text of the entity, which has ordered the disqualification of an extensive list of opponents, including the two-time presidential candidate Henrique Capriles, as well as Juan Guaidó, who fled to the United States in April, was read by the deputy José Brito, who requested Machado’s “status” on June 26.
According to the Comptroller’s Office, the disqualification of Machado, who began a tour in Venezuela for the primaries organized by the opposition to choose a presidential candidate, is based on “administrative irregularities” when she was a deputy (2011-2014).
In addition, Machado is accused of having participated in “a corruption plot” headed by Guaidó, recognized between January 2019 and January 2023 as president in charge of Venezuela by more than 50 countries that ignored the re-election of President Nicolás Maduro in 2018 by calling it “fraudulent”.
“This last outburst was what we already knew, nobody is surprised, that was coming, but if they believe or thought that this farce of disqualification was going to discourage participation in the primaries, they should prepare themselves, because if we went strong now we are going with more strength,” said Machado in a political act.
“This disqualification, like ours and that of other opposition leaders, are illegitimate, unjustified and, above all, unconstitutional. Maduro and the institutions that he controls follow the worst path of designing an election that will only bring more economic, social, and political crisis,” Capriles wrote on Twitter.
Keep reading:
• Venezuela: International Criminal Court reopens investigation for alleged crimes against humanity by the Nicolás Maduro regime
• Cuba, Nicaragua and Venezuela continue on the list of countries with the highest number of human trafficking
• Venezuelan opposition responds to Donald Trump after comments from the oil industry