BOLIVIA. The former president of Bolivia, Jorge “Tuto” Quirogawarns the US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, regarding his visit to Brazil, that without participation in the 2024 presidential elections of Venezuela of the opposition candidate María Corina Machado there will be no free, fair and democratic elections, which is why she demands that the Barbados agreement be fulfilled.
The former Bolivian president made the warning through the social network account on the disqualification of the sole candidate of the Venezuelan opposition.
Disqualification of María Corina Machado
In 2015, the Comptroller General of the regime disqualified Maria Corina Machado to hold public office for a year, because he allegedly did not include in his sworn declaration of assets the payment of food vouchers, known as baskettickets.
After Machado overwhelmingly won the opposition primary on October 22, 2023, becoming the standard-bearer to compete with Maduro for the 2024 presidential elections, the regime’s Comptroller General imposed a sanction that disqualifies her from holding public office for 15 years. years, supposedly due to errors in a sworn statement as a former deputy.
Reiterates letter to Biden
The former Bolivian president urged the US Secretary of State, Blinken, that the Barbados Agreement must be complied with and reminded him of the letter from the Freedom and Democracy Group made up of former presidents and leaders of Latin America and Spanish-speaking countries, addressed to the president of the United States. United Joe Biden, where they express their deep concern about the disqualification of María Corina Machado as a presidential candidate in Venezuela.
The letter begins by questioning how democracies weaken and how Nicolas Maduro It has “murdered” freedoms in Venezuela since 2013. The signatories point out that Machado’s disqualification is an attempt to “bury the last democratic vestiges” in the South American country.
Former presidents and leaders remind Biden that his government, along with other countries, supports the Barbados Agreement, which recognizes the right of political actors to freely choose their candidates. They claim that the only opposition candidate is Machado, who was elected with more than 92% of the votes in the primaries.
The letter denounces Maduro’s “judicial guillotine” and criticizes the attempt to exclude Machado from the elections while the dictator, who faces investigations for crimes against humanity, seeks to be re-elected.
Four critical points to consider
The members of the Freedom and Democracy Group They ask Biden for four elements that they describe as critical for the good future of Venezuela: Machado must be on the electoral ballot. The country needs to become a reliable energy supplier again, curb migration and free itself from harmful foreign influences. They insist that the only hope for this change is Machado, so he must participate in the elections and prevent Venezuela from becoming a third party. Cuba.
They consider that the sanctions and pressures must be maintained, the regime “desperately” needs them to rise to continue stealing and mocking the international community. The dictatorship wants “that personal sanctions be eliminated to enjoy with impunity the proceeds of corruption and looting of public money,” the former presidents state in the public letter.
The signatories insist that Biden honor the Venezuelan people and ensure Machado’s participation in the presidential elections so that Venezuela can finally be free.
Former presidents and members of the Freedom and Democracy Group who signed the letter: Mario Abdo Benítez (Paraguay), Jeanine Añez Chávez (Bolivia), José María Aznar (Spain), Felipe Calderón (Mexico), Rafael Calderón (Costa Rica), Iván Duque (Colombia), Luis Fortuño (Puerto Rico), Juan Guiadó ( Venezuela), Osvaldo Hurtado (Ecuador), Guillermo Lasso (Ecuador), Mauricio Macri (Argentina), Jamil Mahuad (Ecuador), Jorge Tuto Quiroga (Bolivia), Mariano Rajoy (Spain) and Miguel Ángel Rodríguez (Costa Rica).
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Source: Social network account X of the former president of Bolivia Jorge Tuto Quiroga, Grupo Libertad y Democracia website.
