Ten elected Venezuelan mayors woke up this Thursday with the news that they were disqualified from holding public office for the next 15 years, a sanction taken by the Comptroller General of the Republic and carried out immediately by the National Electoral Council (CNE), the governing body. electoral that is also in charge of organizing the presidential elections that will be held on July 28. The measure comes almost immediately after they offered public support to the consensus opposition candidate, Edmundo González Urrutia, in his recent tours.
These are Heriberto Tapia, José Carrillo, Dilcia Rojas, Keiver Peña, Servando Godoy, Wilmer Delgado, Yohanthi Domínguez and Francisco Aguilar, belonging to the Trujillo state, in the southwest of the country, in the Venezuelan Andes. Iraima Vásquez and José María Fermín were also banned from the island of Margarita, Nueva Esparta State. All of them are active in parties opposed to Chavismo.
On the CNE website there is an inscription in which it is stated, on each of them, that “they present a prohibition to exercise public office or function in accordance with the provisions of the current constitutional regulations.”Aren’t they not afraid of me? What a way to find out about a decision that didn’t go through any of the regular channels. An outrage! ”Mayor Heriberto Tapia, of the Motatán municipality, wrote on the networks in protest, showing the screenshot in which his veto is reported.
Aren’t they not afraid of me?
What a way to find out about a decision that didn’t go through any of the regular channels.
An atrocity! pic.twitter.com/K0AnCL1ulh
— Heriberto Tapia (@heribertotapiaj) June 19, 2024
While this was happening, the Attorney General of the Chavista regime, Tarek William Saab, assumed responsibility and confirmed the arrest and indictment of five other opposition activists linked to the Vente Venezuela and Voluntad Popular parties, which took place between the weekend and Monday. past. It is known that some are already detained in the El Helicoide Prison, in Caracas. They are accused of “inciting hatred.”
When referring to one of the two open cases, in his account on the social network He approaches a post of the Bolivarian National Guard, chanting the slogan “freedom.”
Saab argues that the demonstration, which did not produce any consequences and would not have been news if there were no detainees, entered the military checkpoint “through the use of force, with the intention of causing injuries to the troops of the aforementioned military component.” , maintaining anxiety and generating terror to the inhabitants of the area.”
“Let us not forget that hate crime is any crime committed with a bias or prejudice regarding a person for belonging to a specific group, such as race, nationality, sexual orientation, gender or religious belief,” Saab continued reasoning, who emphasized very special in that this type of behavior will not be tolerated at all in the country.
Political disqualifications are becoming a very common measure in the legality of Chavismo, which already has undermined broad layers of the opposition leadership with prohibitions from running for public office. The best-known case is that of María Corina Machado, today the most popular politician in Venezuela, who could not assume her investiture as a presidential candidate despite having been elected in a primary popular consultation open to all citizens.
A few weeks ago, Carlos Ocariz, national leader of Primero Justicia and former mayor of the Sucre Municipality, in Caracas, was also banned from running for public office; deputy Tomás Guanipa, from the same party; Elías Sayegh, current mayor of El Hatillo, also in the capital; and José Fernández, former mayor of Los Salias.
González Urrutia condemned the measure and expressed his support: “The growing persecution confirms that Venezuela has decided to change and will express it with determination this July 28. “We will continue fighting together for a country where no one is persecuted for thinking differently.” María Corina Machado also sent a message to Chavismo on social networks: “Understand: this has already changed. The mayors, of all parties, know it. “Whoever opposes this popular movement will truly be disqualified by the people.”
Meanwhile, González Urruita has not wanted to join Maduro and other opposition candidates who went to the CNE this Thursday to sign the “Recognition of Results” agreement of the elections. Maduro was accompanied by Benjamín Rausseo, Antonio Ecarri, Daniel Cabellos, Luis Eduardo Martínez, José Brito, Claudio Fermín, Javier Bertucci and Enrique Márquez. In reality, Edmundo González is the only candidate, today, with a real chance of defeating the Chavista president.
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