SANTIAGO.- The Chilean government demanded Nicolás Maduro regime to “end” the “harassment” against opposition politicians, after the arrests of several members of the opposition leader’s campaign team were announced in recent days, Maria Corina Machadowhich occurred under arbitrary conditions and without evidence to support the alleged crimes of which they are accused.
The government of President Gabriel Boric stated in a brief press release that it “firmly” condemns the “arbitrary detention of political representatives of the Venezuelan opposition,” which “constitutes an action contrary to the democratic spirit that must prevail in any electoral process.” “.
The arrests of members of Machado’s team They occur in an electoral context prior to the presidential elections that will be held on July 28 of this year. According to the electoral schedule released by the National Electoral Council (CNE), this Thursday began the deadline for the different political forces to present the credentials of the candidates running for the presidential race. This application period will last until next Monday.
Machado, a former congresswoman, was elected as a candidate for the Democratic Unitary Platform, the largest opposition coalition. Machado won last October with 92% of the votes in open primaries in which 2.5 million Venezuelans went to vote.
However, a political disqualification from holding public office for 15 years that was illegally imposed on him by the Comptroller General’s Office, controlled by the regime, prevents him from registering his candidacy with the CNE.
Although Machado has said that he does not share the idea of naming a successor, one of the options proposed by several opponents and electoral analysts is that he designate a substitute to whom he will transfer the flow of votes that he may receive in the elections. All the surveys carried out so far to measure the pre-electoral climate give Machado a clear victory over a totally unpopular Maduro.
Chile considered that the arrests of Machado’s collaborators “seriously affect the holding of democratic, transparent and free presidential elections, with full participation of all candidates.”. That government also maintained that these actions are contrary to what was agreed in the Barbados Agreement, in which representatives of the regime and the Unitary Democratic Platform committed to the international community to create democratic conditions for free elections.
The Chilean government said it joins calls from multilateral human rights bodies “for Venezuela to end the harassment against political opponents.”
Source: WRITING
