Venezuela primary results suspended in latest blow directed at opposition

María Corina Machado was overwhelmingly elected to take on Nicolás Maduro in presidential election expected next year

Luke Taylor

Maria Corina Machado receives a document proclaiming her as the winner of the internal opposition elections, in Caracas, Venezuela, last week. Photograph: Miguel Gutiérrez/EPA

Venezuela’s supreme court has suspended the results of the political opposition’s primaries after María Corina Machado was overwhelmingly elected last Sunday to take on President Nicolás Maduro in a presidential contest expected for 2024.

The court – which is stacked with Maduro’s allies – also ratified bans on running for office which had been slapped on Machado and two others.

Monday’s ruling was the latest effort to cast doubt on Machado’s eligibility and will probably provoke a reaction from the US, which lifted sanctions on Venezuela earlier this month in exchange for the government pledging to hold fair elections overseen by European observers.

It came after Venezuela’s attorney general announced last week that the primaries, which were held independently without the involvement of the government, were under investigation for financial crimes and conspiracy.

Machado won more than 90% of the vote with a higher than expected voter turnout and analysts predict she would probably beat Maduro in a fair contest.

By deeming the selection of Machado fraudulent the Chavista government can cast further doubt on the former lawmaker’s eligibility to run while arguing that the issue of her ban is irrelevant, says Phil Gunson, senior analyst for the Andes region at Crisis Group.

“There’s really no law or legal basis for this at all,” Gunson said.

Opposition leaders have rejected the allegations against the primary process and say they will stand by the selection of Machado as the opposition candidate.

“I reiterate my support for [the primaries] and the technical teams that accompanied it,” tweeted Delsa Solorzano, a member of Venezuela’s national assembly. “Venezuela expressed itself and nothing can change the will of a nation that wants change.”

Corruption and economic mismanagement compounded by oil sanctions have forced more than 7 million people to flee Venezuela’s rampant food shortages, hyperinflation and rolling blackouts in the past decade.

Maduro has retained control of the country despite its collapse by rigging elections, bribing military cadres and intimidating the political opposition with human rights violations.

The supreme court ruling could further divide the opposition between those who want to participate in 2024’s electoral contest and those who want to boycott it, Gunson said.

“It’s also a way to make the electorate feel that the contest is hopeless and that voting is a waste of time,” he added.

The supreme court has ordered that the opposition turn in every piece of documentation related to the elections including candidate registration and all voter records within three days, so that an electoral commission can investigate the allegations.

The opposition has raised concerns that the documents could be used to persecute the opposition and jeopardise next year’s elections.

“This is a clear violation of the agreement the government signed with the opposition in Barbados and an outright escalation of the political crisis,” said Geoff Ramsey, senior fellow at the Atlantic Council. “Maduro’s acting like he doesn’t care about the prospect that the US could snap back the sanctions.”

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