Venezuela Presidential Elections: Maduro Formally Announces Re-Election Candidacy Amid Opposition Struggles

2024-03-25 21:04:07

The president of Venezuela, Nicolás Maduro, formalizes this Monday his candidacy for re-election before the electoral authority, accused of serving Chavismo and erecting a siege to prevent the nomination of the opposition coalition led by María Corina Machado, who last week appointed the academic Corina Yoris as her replacement but until today her candidacy has not been able to be registered before the National Electoral Council (CNE).

The deadline to register candidates closes in hours. This is what is known about the complex and changing electoral landscape in Venezuela.

Machado: red light

Machado won the primaries of the opposition Democratic Unitary Platform (PUD) coalition held last October, but a 15-year political disqualification prevents him from running.

LOOK: Maduro formalizes his candidacy for re-election this Monday and the opposition denounces obstacles to registering Corina Yoris

The government accuses her of corruption and advocating a foreign invasion, which she rejects.

He then nominated in his place Corina Yoris, an 80-year-old philosopher and university professor, who has never worked in public administration and her name appears clean in the CNE database.

“We are going to fight this fight together,” said Machado, who will continue to be the face of the campaign. “I am going to continue traveling throughout Venezuela, bringing strength and hope to every corner of the country.”

But as of Sunday night, the PUD had not been able to register Yoris’ application. Neither does the Un Nuevo Tiempo (UNT) party, of the governor of the oil-producing state of Zulia, Manuel Rosales, who was a presidential candidate in 2006.

María Corina Machado (left) presents the historian Corina Yoris as a candidate for the presidential elections on July 28 in Venezuela during a press conference. (EFE/ Rayner Peña R.).

Corina x 2

Social networks exploded after the announcement of “las Corinas”. The “#CorinaChallenge” even emerged, in which users emulate an old publication by the professor on social networks with the message: “My best wishes for a 2024 with freedom for Venezuela.”

“Being the delegate candidate, the representative candidate, which are the words she is using, seems to me to be an honor and I hope to know how to respond to this trust,” Yoris told the site La Gran Aldea.

Analysts consider the candidacy of this academic, until now unknown in politics, ruled out, and talk about looking for a “potable” candidate for Chavismo, less connected to Machado.

“The PUD maintains permanent evaluation, discussion and decision meetings,” said leader Delsa Solórzano, without confirming the search for another alternative plan.

Rose bushes? He does not enjoy the affinity of the candidate, but no one rules it out.

The consensus is, however, that any name that is registered must have Machado’s support. “The true unity of the parties is unity with the people; Only in this way will we defeat Maduro,” concluded the liberal leader.

Access blocked

The first step to nominate a candidate is to enter the application on a CNE website. Therein lies the obstacle for the opposition, which has not yet received the codes to access the page and register the application.

In a letter sent to the electoral body on Sunday, the PUD requested “a three-day extension to the period to nominate candidates (…) and we can proceed with the application that has been impossible for us until now.”

The CNE has granted extensions in previous processes to encourage greater participation.

If the PUD manages to access and register a candidate, the system will issue a report that is then presented to the CNE.

The board of directors of the electoral body authorizes or rejects the candidacy, which may also be challenged by third parties.

Since Thursday, nine candidates who present themselves as opponents have registered, but are branded as government collaborators. 12 other organizations from Maduro’s alliance also nominated him.

The final list of candidates will not be available until the end of April.

The president of Venezuela, Nicolás Maduro, speaks with his followers during a demonstration to commemorate the 20 years of the anti-imperialist declaration of the late former president Hugo Chávez on February 29, 2024. (Photo by Federico PARRA / AFP).

Mature: green light

On July 28, Maduro aspires to a third term that will extend him to 18 years in power, four more than his predecessor and political father Hugo Chávez had when he died in 2013.

The government’s United Socialist Party of Venezuela (PSUV) called on its members to accompany the president to the National Electoral Council (CNE). It is expected to arrive heavily guarded with anti-riot vehicles deployed outside the headquarters in central Caracas.

Another dozen groups have already formalized their support for Maduro.

“Here there is only one destiny: the popular victory (…), whatever they do, whatever they say, they have not and will never be able to defeat us,” said Maduro after being named candidate by the PSUV last week.

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