The United Socialist Party of Venezuela concluded a vote to choose Maduro as its presidential candidate, according to Diosdado Cabello, who is considered the second-in-command in the ruling party.
Maduro, 61, has not made any announcement, but he is widely expected to seek a third term in which his main rival has been eliminated.
Dozens of countries, including the United States, did not recognize Maduro's victory in his current second presidential term in 2018 in elections that were widely considered fraudulent, and imposed a series of sanctions on him, according to what Agence France-Presse reported.
Last week, Venezuela's National Electoral Council announced that presidential elections would be held on July 28.
This came after the government and the opposition reached an agreement in October, in talks in Barbados, that stipulated the organization of voting during the second half of 2024 in the presence of international observers.
Following the agreement, the United States eased some of its sanctions imposed on the oil-rich South American country, allowing the American company Chevron to resume limited extraction of crude oil, in addition to the exchange of prisoners between the two parties.
The Barbados Agreement also stipulated that opponents “aspiring to run” could be able to appeal judicial decisions that disqualified them.
Since then, the pro-Maduro Supreme Court has upheld a ruling that banned the winner of the opposition primary, Maria Corina Machado, and other opponents from running, prompting Washington to consider re-imposing sanctions.
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