Venezuela sets presidential election for July 28; top opposition candidate remains barred
CARACAS, VENEZUELA
Venezuela’s highly anticipated presidential election will take place on July 28 — the birthday of the country’s late fiery leader Hugo Chávez — officials announced Tuesday, plowing ahead with a tight campaign season that deepens doubts over the participation of the opposition’s leading candidate as well as of international observers.
President Nicolás Maies duro is widely expected to run for reelection.
His government initially negotiated details of the election with a faction of the opposition, but differences between the sides have grown over the past two months.
The date announced by National Electoral Council President Elvis Amoroso did, however, meet at least one opposition demand that the election be held in the second half of the year.
When that broad timeframe was agreed upon by Maduro and his adversar
in October, the intervening months were meant to allow campaigns to mobilize, officials to update voter rolls and international electoral observers to plan and deploy a mission.
Crucially, the October agreement, signed on the Caribbean island of Barbados and focused on conditions meant to level the playing field for the 2024 election, also called on both sides to “promote the authorization of all presidential candidates and political parties” to participate in the election as long as they comply with the law.
The agreement earned Maduro relief from some economic sanctions imposed by the U.S.
But in January, the country’s top court ratified an administrative decision banning Maduro’s strongest adversary this year, Maria Corina Machado, from running for office.
Amoroso did not address Machado’s candidacy during his nationally televised announcement Tuesday, which was the 11th anniversary of Chávez’s
death.
Amoroso said campaigning will be allowed from July 4-25.
On Tuesday, Machado asked supporters gathered for a rally in western Venezuela for “calm and firmness” in the coming days, but she did not offer any explanations on how she intends to overcome the ban against her.
Machado won an independently run primary held last year by the Unitary Platform, the U.S.backed opposition faction. She won more than 90% of the vote, with more than 2 million voters turning out for the primary, including in strongholds of Maduro’s ruling party.
While the opposition’s candidate remains in doubt, Maduro will be seeking six more years in office.
His decade-long presidency has been marked by political, social and economic crisis. Under his watch, millions of Venezuelans have fallen into poverty and more than 7.4 million have migrated.