After the withdrawal of three candidates in recent days, ten opposition candidates will face each other in the primaries in Venezuela, with the disqualified María Corina Machado as favorite, but her final victory does not guarantee that she will be able to face Nicolás Maduro in the 2024 presidential elections.

Jesús María Casal, chairman of Venezuela’s National Primary Commission (CNP), charged with organizing the opposition’s internal elections, announced at a press conference on Friday that on Sunday, October 22 at 7:00 a.m. local time (8:00 a.m.): of Ecuador), the 5,134 voting tables will be installed in the 3,010 centers that will be ready for the process, which will start an hour later and continue until 4 p.m. local time, unless there are “citizens still in line.” to stand in line.”

Casal said they hope to declare the winner of the elections next week, in which they will choose the candidate who will face Chavismo in the 2024 presidential elections.

“Next week we have to announce the winning candidate. This would take place next week, in a formal proclamation law, with the intervention of both the National Primary Committee and the candidate,” the CNP chairman said.

Casal reiterated his invitation to participate “en masse” and “with enthusiasm” in the internal elections, a “mechanism to reconcile citizens with the exercise of their political rights,” for the “democratic construction of the unitary candidacy.”

María Corina, strong, but disabled

The arch favorite, but eliminated: Maria Corina Machado seems an almost certain winner of Venezuela’s opposition primaries this Sunday.

María Corina Machado speaks today at a press conference in Caracas (Venezuela). Freddy Superlano and Henrique Capriles announced on October 22 that they were withdrawing from the election race, making way for a “viable option” against Maduro. Photo: EFE

Machado, from the most radical wing of the opposition, is banned from holding public office for 15 years. a sanction that Chavismo is not giving in to, despite pressure from the United States, which has relaxed sanctions after the resumption of a dialogue process this week.

The 21 million Venezuelans on the electoral roll are being called to vote in this internal process, in which ten candidates are competing, over whom Machado has astronomical advantages of up to 30 points in the polls.

The primaries are being organized by the opposition itself by rejecting technical assistance from the National Electoral Council (CNE) after months of evasion by the authority, which ultimately proposed at the last minute to postpone the process for a month in order to participate.

The opposition will have around 3,000 voting centres, which at maximum capacity would allow the participation of 3 million voters, although that number could be much smaller.

Machado’s almost sung victory has an impact on the voter, which “disheartens” the voter, and on the challenge of installing the centers – which without the CNE will be located in squares, parks, schools and even private homes – on the same election day.

Political agreement in Barbados

The primaries are being held five days after the negotiating table between the government and the opposition signed a political agreement, which stipulated that the presidential elections would take place in the second half of next year, with observation by the European Union and other international actors.

The document, signed in Barbados, It also includes respect for the “right of every political actor to freely choose its candidate for presidential elections,” which implies respect for the process.

It was previously challenged in the Supreme Court by a businessman accused of being collaborationist by the traditional opposition, but so far the court has not ruled.

The US lifts sanctions on Venezuelan oil, gas and gold after an agreement with the opposition

Initial agreements led to the release of five political prisoners, the temporary easing of the embargo on Venezuelan crude oil imposed by the United States in 2019, and the creation of a fund of Venezuelan money blocked abroad, which the UN will be managed for social programs.

However, the dialogue has not yet succeeded in resolving the issue of the disqualifications, which for now only affect Machado. Henrique Capriles and Freddy Superlano, also sanctioned, resigned from the primaries.

“The disqualifications are on a red line that is not easy,” emphasizes Luis Vicente León, director of the Datanalisis polling agency. “There was not a single point during the entire negotiation process, either informal or formal, where the Venezuelan government achieved any form of authorization negotiations.”

The the disqualification against Machado, initially for 12 months and ending in 2016, was extended to 15 years on June 30, just as his campaign was getting underway. The Comptroller’s Office, led by the current head of the CNE, Elvis Amoroso, accused her of corruption and promoting sanctions against the country.

The head of American diplomacy, Antony Blinken made the easing of sanctions conditional on fulfilling “commitments” such as creating “specific processes for the accelerated qualification” of candidates.

“Venezuela will not accept pressure, blackmail, bribery or interference from any power or country,” the head of parliament snapped. Jorge Rodríguez, who also heads the Chavismo delegation. (JO)