The White House warned this Monday, January 29, to the Government of Nicolás Maduro that it has until April to comply with the agreements reached with the opposition before the United States makes new decisions on sanctions against Venezuela. As part of the agreements, which were supported by Washington, Chavismo had committed to reviewing political disqualifications. The US summons takes place three days after the Supreme Court of Venezuela ratified the disqualification of the candidate chosen by the opposition for this year's presidential elections, María Corina Machado.
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“Nicolás Maduro is not going to choose the people's candidate because the people have already chosen who their candidate is, period.”
These were the words of the leader of the Venezuelan opposition, María Corina Machado, this Monday, January 29, in response to her disqualification as a presidential candidate for this year's elections.
Our candidate @MariaCorinaYA in response to the illegal, unconstitutional and unconstitutional disqualification imposed by the regime's judicial office: “Nicolás Maduro is not going to choose the people's candidate, because the people have already chosen their candidate. We gave them the opportunity to… pic.twitter.com/u3oqawp2Oc
— Popular Will (@PopularVoluntad) January 29, 2024
Before the microphones of several local and international media, Machado described the ban by the Supreme Court of Justice as “illegal, unconstitutional”; institution that he considers to be a “judicial office of the Nicolás Maduro regime.”
“We are going to defeat Nicolás Maduro in presidential elections this 2024 and we are going to do it together because we know what we have to do,” added María Corina, founder of the Vente Venezuela political party.
Washington site: they have until April to comply
For its part, the United States, the main ally of the opposition to the government of President Nicolás Maduro, responded with an ultimatum.
“We have options at our disposal. I'm not going to advance any of them at this time, but we certainly have options with respect to sanctions and those types of things that we can take. You have until April,” the Security Council spokesman said at a press conference. White House Homeland Security, John Kirby.
“Much will depend on what Maduro and his regime do,” Kirby declared.in reference to the reestablishment of sanctions on Venezuelan oil and gold.
But the Venezuelan Government had already anticipated the United States' response to the disqualification of Maduro's main contender. Hours before the White House statement, the president and deputy of the National Assembly of Venezuela, Jorge Rodríguez, announced at a press conference that the Caribbean country will respond proportionally to the United States.
“If there is any aggressive action, our response will be severe, reciprocal and forceful.”
The pro-government deputy Jorge Rodríguez, who led the negotiation with the opposition in Barbados, added that the possible US sanctions on Venezuela are “aggressive actions towards the right of his country to live in peace and progress.”
Judicial ruling against María Corina Machado
Last Friday, January 26, the Supreme Court of Justice, Venezuela's highest judicial body, ratified María Corina Machado's disqualification from holding public office for 15 years. An order that, consequently, prevents her from registering as a candidate for the presidential elections scheduled for the second half of this year.
Machado's disqualification was first ordered by the Comptroller General of Venezuela for allegedly not including the payment of food bonuses in his sworn declaration of assets.
However, international organizations such as the Organization of American States (OAS) consider that the court ruling against María Corina Machado is a political and deliberate decision by the “dictatorship” of Nicolás Maduro to prevent free elections.
The government of Nicolás Maduro has been denounced several times by human rights activists for allegedly politically persecuting its opponents.
According to the NGO Foro Penal, there are at least 269 people detained in Venezuela whom it considers “political prisoners” and since 2014 there have been 15,777 “political detentions”, and more than 9,000 people remain under restrictive measures in Venezuela.
Given the risk involved in being an opposition member in Venezuela, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) asked the Venezuelan State in December to adopt the necessary measures to protect the rights to life and personal integrity of María Corina Machado.
In addition, The IACHR urged Venezuela to guarantee that Machado can continue carrying out his political participation activities without being subject to threats, harassment or acts of violence in the exercise of them.
The European Union (EU), through a statement from its External Action Service, also questioned the disqualification of María Corina Machado.
The EU is “very concerned” about recent events in Venezuela and the decisions of the Supreme Court. The community bloc assured that a court ruling “aimed at preventing members of the opposition from exercising their fundamental political rights cannot but undermine democracy and the rule of law.”
Is the Barbados agreement dead?
In October 2023, the government of Nicolás Maduro committed to the opposition to work on an electoral schedule and review the disqualifications, as part of the agreements reached in Barbados with the mediation of Norway, which resulted in a temporary lifting of oil sanctions. to the country.
In Barbados, the Government and the opposition also agreed that the presidential elections would be held in the second half of 2024 and with the observation of technical missions from the European Union (EU) and the UN, among other international organizations.
In that occasion, The United States, which accompanies the process, agreed to a temporary lifting of oil sanctions against the Venezuelan Governmentwhich in return promised to advance what was agreed in Barbados.
However, the Venezuelan president himself acknowledged that the agreement was in a critical situation last week.
However, and in the face of questions about the process, the ruling party Jorge Rodríguez assured this Monday that the Venezuelan Government “is ready” to form a commission to monitor and verify the Barbados agreement. A commission that was requested on Saturday by the opposition.
“In the intention of President (Nicolás) Maduro to give him the opportunity, to breathe oxygen into what is established in the Barbados agreements, we have responded to the facilitating delegation of the Kingdom of Norway that Venezuela is ready to be convened and comply the commission for verification and monitoring of the agreements,” declared Jorge Rodríguez at a press conference.
The ruling party's statement on the Barbados agreement is a response to a message from Norway, facilitator of the political negotiation, which suggested the “peremptory” installation of this verification commission.
With Reuters and local media
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