The body headed by Elvis Amoroso, a government supporter and close collaborator of President Nicolás Maduro, indicated in a statement – without showing evidence – that Machado was a participant in an alleged corruption plot orchestrated by opposition leader Juan Guaidó, who proclaimed himself interim president. in 2019 when he was leader of the National Assembly. She in turn accused her of hiding information about her assets after the cessation of her functions as a deputy.
Machado has not been part of the Legislature since 2014 and was a fierce critic of Guaidó within the opposition ranks.
“A useless ‘disqualification’ that only shows that the regime knows that it is already defeated,” Machado said on Twitter. “Now we will vote with more force, more rebellion and more desire in the primaries,” she added. It was not clear if he will continue in the race.
The 55-year-old industrial engineer represents the Vente Venezuela party and had registered to participate in the October 22 primaries in which the opposition will seek to choose a single candidate to face Maduro in the 2024 presidential elections in a contest that includes least 13 other candidates.
In a recent interview with The Associated Press, Machado indicated that the disqualification of the most popular opposition leaders has become a political weapon of the government and stressed that the winner of the primaries will have the legitimacy and support of Venezuelans and the international community. .
“I think it is not so easy for the regime to disqualify the one who wins the primaries,” Machado told the AP. Regardless of who wins the primaries, “what we are not going to accept is that the regime chooses him, because if we accept that the one who wins is discarded, then why are we holding primaries?” He added.
In 2014, Machado was imposed a sanction that disqualified her from holding public office for one year after she agreed to serve as alternate representative of Panama before the Organization of American States (OAS) with the purpose of denouncing the alleged crimes committed by the Maduro government. Her disqualification prevented her from running in the 2015 parliamentary elections which the opposition won overwhelmingly. There was never a final sentence from any Venezuelan court that endorsed her disqualification, stipulated as an accessory penalty to a main sentence.
The General Secretariat of the Organization of American States in a statement condemned the disqualification of Machado and pointed out that the decision “is arbitrary and contrary to the rule of law” for violating elementary political and civil rights contemplated in the American Convention on Human Rights regarding the right to choose and be elected.
“The regime resorts to disqualifications and proscriptions to cling to power and liquidate any semblance of democracy while deepening the political, social, humanitarian and economic crisis that the country is experiencing,” the letter added.
The Comptroller’s response came four days after dissident opposition legislator José Brito asked that body for official information on the alleged existence of a current disqualification against Machado.
In recent years, Machado was one of the most critical voices of the leaders of the largest opposition parties, whom he accused of failing in their policy to remove Maduro from office and, already weakened, of trying to agree with the government in exchange for keep small shares of power. He, in turn, promoted the boycott in the last national and regional elections, arguing that the conditions for free and democratic elections did not exist.
In recent weeks, the ruling party revived allegations of an alleged plan to carry out a “coup d’état” and assassinate Maduro and other pro-government leaders in 2014, of which Machado and other opponents had been accused at the time.
As evidence, at the time, they showed alleged emails that the former legislator would have shared with opponents. Those indicated assured that the messages were falsified.
Maduro, who assumed the presidency in April 2013 and was re-elected in 2018 in elections considered fraudulent by his local and foreign critics, has denounced various assassination plans and dozens of acts of sabotage and conspiracy.
FUENTE: Associated Press
