CARACAS.- The governments of Costa Rica, Ecuador, Dominican Republic and Chile They rejected the decision of the Supreme Court of Venezuela to maintain the disqualification of the opposition leader Maria Corina Machadowhich prevents her from running as a candidate for the next presidential election of this year.
On Friday, January 26, Supreme Court of Justice (TSJ) of Venezuelaan institution controlled by the regime, ratified the disqualification to the opponent who prevents her from holding elected office for 15 years and which was imposed on her by the Comptroller General’s Office. This measure is unknown to Machado, who says that she was never formally notified of this disqualification. Likewise, it has been questioned because, according to Venezuelan laws, the Comptroller’s Office is not empowered to impose political disqualification measures, which would fall to the Supreme Court.
“He Government of Chile expresses its concern due to the situation that affects political leaders of the Venezuelan opposition who could be prevented from participating in the next presidential elections in that country,” the Chilean Foreign Ministry said in a statement.
In the text, the Government of Chile positively valued “Norway’s proposal to form as soon as possible a commission to monitor and verify the Barbados Agreementswhich aim precisely to guarantee an open, democratic and transparent election process.
While, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic and Ecuadormember countries of the Alliance for Development in Democracy (ADD), issued a joint statement in which they expressed their “rejection” to the TSJ decision Venezuelan when considering that “it attacks against the celebration of free, transparent elections with full guarantees for all Venezuelan actors”.
The statement also calls that “the will of the Venezuelan people must be respected” and asks that “the participation of the person elected by the majority of its citizens in the October 2023 primaries must be ensured.”
Machado won with 92% of the votes in the internal oppositionwhich made her the “unitary” candidate of the opposition to face Chavismo in the presidential elections that must be held in the second half of 2024. These primaries were held a few days after representatives of the opposition and the regime signed the Barbados Accords in which they committed to guarantee free and transparent elections, and to review the disqualifications of opposition leaders.
The statement of Costa Rica, Ecuador and Dominican Republic urged the Maduro regime “to comply with its obligations derived from the Inter-American Democratic Charter, and to act in line with the objectives of the Barbados agreements, reversing the banning of candidates.”
Likewise, they made an “emphatic call” for the Maduro regime to “guarantee free, transparent and participatory elections, with supervision of international organizations, without exclusion of opposition candidates and in a climate of peace, free of reprisals.”
In his statement, Costa Rica, Ecuador and Dominican Republic They also rejected the disqualification, for 15 years, of the two-time presidential candidate and former governor of the state Miranda, Henry Capriles.
Source: WRITING
