Venezuela - January 2024

Venezuela’s Supreme Court (Tribunal Supremo de Justicia, TSJ) confirmed the ineligibility of Maria Corina Machado, who won a primary election held by opposition parties in October, to run for president. Machado had been declared ineligible to run for office for 15 years by the General Comptroller’s office, on the grounds that she had backed US sanctions against Venezuela and had supported the former opposition leader, Juan Guaido. She resorted to an appeal mechanism, established in the context of the Barbados Agreement on electoral guarantees. The latter resulted from the dialogue between government and opposition in the past months, regarding the conditions to ensure free and fair elections in Venezuela in 2024. In this sense, aspiring politicians with a prior determination of ineligibility were allowed to challenge their status. However, the TSJ dismissed the appeal of Machado, the opposition’s chosen candidate.  

Sources: Agencia EFE, Voz de America, International IDEA