CARACAS, Venezuela: Venezuela’s Supreme Court on Friday ruled two-time presidential candidate Henrique Capriles ineligible to seek office in elections due this year.
Supreme Court is considered loyal to President Nicolas Maduro’s government. Capriles lost his plea against a 15-year ban imposed on him in 2017 for alleged administrative irregularities when he was a governor — a finding the opposition rebuffs as deeply flawed.
He had stood unsuccessfully against Maduro in the 2013 elections, and before that against the late Hugo Chavez.
The Supreme Court is also expected to rule today (Friday) on a plea against the ineligibility of Maria Corina Machado. She won overwhelming support in a primary vote in October 2023 that confirmed her as the opposition presidential candidate in the polls for which no date has yet been set.
But the female leader remains technically out of the race for alleged corruption — a charge widely regarded as trumped-up — and for backing sanctions against the own country.
Capriles was also a candidate in the opposition-run primary elections, but stood aside in favour of Machado. He was seen as a possible stand-in if she was prevented from running.
Maduro’s government and the opposition agreed at talks in Barbados in 2023 to hold free and fair elections in 2024 with international observers present.
The deal eased US sanctions against Venezuela and allowed Chevron to resume limited oil production as part of efforts to keep global prices low as the West imposed sanctions on Russia over the war in Ukraine.
Disqualifications, such as Machado and Capriles, are imposed by a body called the Office of the Comptroller General. The opposition called them unconstitutional.
