Venezuelan opposition prevented from presenting candidates for elections | Venezuela

The Venezuelan opposition found itself unable to present candidates for the presidential elections on July 28 and accused Nicolás Maduro’s regime of blocking any alternative to Chavismo.

The Democratic Unity Platform (PUD), the coalition that brings together the main parties opposing Chavismo, revealed that the attempt to register its candidate, historian Corina Yoris, was unsuccessful due to an alleged computer failure. The period for submitting applications ended on Monday.

Yoris, an 80-year-old academic who has never held public office, was chosen as an alternative to María Corina Machado, the main opposition leader who was elected in last October’s primaries with more than two million votes. Corina Machado is prevented by a court decision from running for public office, in a case she says is politically motivated, and announced that Yoris would be the PUD candidate.

However, the candidacy could not be registered until midnight on Monday, nor were members of Yoris’ team allowed to register directly at the headquarters of the National Elections Council (CNE), in Caracas, for reasons of security. On the same day, Maduro and several elements of the Chavista government elite went personally to the headquarters of the electoral body, controlled by the regime, to formalize the candidacy and entry was not authorized for fear of an attack against the President, according to the El País.

When presenting his own candidacy, Maduro addressed harsh words to the opposition, which he accused of being manipulated by “puppeteers”. “They are dragged by imperialism, they are the anti-project, they have personal ambitions, their objective is to deliver the country to the clutches of the North American empire, they are hopelessness, nothingness, the failed past”, he stated.

Without being able to present a competitive candidate, there are few options left for the opposition coalition, which hoped to be able to count on fair and free elections after sitting at the table for several months with the Maduro Government. Only candidates seen as little threatening and, in some cases, even close to Chavism compete against the current President.

The only possible exceptions are the candidacies of Manuel Rosales, one of the few opponents of the regime who won elections in recent years when he managed to be elected governor of the state of Zulia, and Enrique Márquez, a very little known politician.

This Tuesday, Corina Machado denounced the CNE’s actions to prevent Yoris’ candidacy. “So goes this regime that refuses to compete with an 80-year-old academic woman”, stated the opposition leader. “The regime chose its candidates”, lamented Machado, guaranteeing that Yoris will continue to be the PUD candidate.

With the prospect of a possible division of votes among voters who want the end of Chavismo, Maduro appears to have a relatively easy path to staying in power. Pressure on the opposition has been increasingly high and in recent weeks several members of Machado’s campaign team had been detained.

The USA re-imposed some of the sanctions that had been lifted during the negotiation process between the Government and the opposition, and expressed concern about the exclusion of PUD candidates. “It is crucial that the Maduro regime recognizes and respects the right of all candidates to run. We call on Maduro to do so,” the White House National Security Council said in a statement.

The Brazilian Government, which until now had attempted a rapprochement with Caracas, also expressed “concern” about the Venezuelan electoral process.