US condemns ban on Venezuelan opposition leader’s candidacy and puts sanctions relief under review

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CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) — The U.S. government and nearly 30 conservative world leaders on Saturday condemned the decision of Venezuela’s highest court to block the presidential candidacy of opposition leader Maria Corina Machado.

The Biden administration, however, remained noncommittal about reimposing economic sanctions on Venezuela, which it has threatened to do if the government of President Nicolas Maduro failed to ensure a level playing field for the country’s presidential election this year.

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“The United States is currently reviewing our Venezuela sanctions policy, based on this development and the recent political targeting of democratic opposition candidates and civil society,” U.S. State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said in a statement.

Machado won a presidential primary held in October by the faction of the opposition backed by the U.S. She secured more than 90% of the vote despite the Venezuelan government announcing a 15-year ban on her running for office just days after she formally entered the race in June.

The former lawmaker and longtime government foe was able to participate in the primary, because the election was organized by a commission independent of Venezuela’s electoral authorities. Machado insisted throughout the campaign that she never received official notification of the ban and said voters, not ruling-party loyalists, were the rightful decision-makers of her candidacy.

Venezuela’s Supreme Tribunal of Justice on Friday upheld the ban, which was based on alleged fraud and tax violations, and accuses Machado of seeking the economic sanctions the U.S. imposed on Venezuela.

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The ruling came more than three months after Maduro and the U.S.-backed opposition reached a deal to work on basic conditions for a fair election. The two sides agreed to hold the election in the second half of 2024, invite international electoral observers, and create a process for aspiring presidential candidates to appeal their bans.

The deal led Washington to ease some economic sanctions on Venezuela’s oil, gas and mining sectors.

Miller said that Friday’s decision from Venezuela’s Supreme Tribunal of Justice “runs contrary to the commitments made by Maduro and his representatives” under the agreement signed in October on the Caribbean island of Barbados. He said that the appeal process “lacked basic elements, as Machado neither received a copy of the allegations against her nor was afforded the opportunity to respond to those allegations.”

But Maduro’s chief negotiator, National Assembly leader Jorge Rodriguez, on Friday insisted Venezuela’s government hasn’t broken the terms of the accord and vowed to hold the presidential election this year. While the opposition’s candidate remains in doubt, Maduro will be seeking six more years in office.

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Maduro’s entire decadelong presidency has been marked by political, social and economic crisis. Under his watch, millions of Venezuelans have fallen into poverty and more than 7.4 million have migrated.

In a statement Saturday, the international nongovernmental organization Democratic Initiative of Spain and the Americas said that Machado “continues to be the legitimate representative of the Venezuelan opposition and its presidential candidate before the international community.” The letter was signed by roughly 30 world leaders of Spain and Latin America, including former Presidents Ivan Duque of Colombia, Mauricio Macri of Argentina, and Vicente Fox and Felipe Calderon of Mexico.

The leaders wrote that the actions of Maduro’s government through Venezuela’s highest court, “whose direction has recently been entrusted to a member of the official party … proves his repeated contempt for the essential elements and fundamental components of democracy.”

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