Maduro is crossing all the red lines, the US must respond

Crossing diplomatic red lines set by the United States, Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro is blatantly refusing to honor his agreement to allow free and fair elections this year. President Biden and Secretary of State Anthony Blinken have no choice but to keep their promise to reimpose sanctions if Maduro behaves this way.

Free translation via lapatilla.com / The Washington Post

The United States lifted some sanctions in October after Maduro’s government and the Venezuelan opposition, known as the Unitary Platform, agreed on a “road map” in Barbados that would lead to elections. It stipulated that all candidates would enjoy freedom of movement and assembly, each party could choose its own candidates and they would have equal access to the media.

But Maduro has contemptuously violated the agreement. In June, the regime banned the most popular opposition leader, María Corina Machado, from running, based on specific allegations of corruption. Machado won the unofficial opposition nomination contest by a landslide. She appealed the ban, but on January 26, the Maduro-controlled Supreme Court rejected her request for reinstatement.

Undeterred, Machado appointed a replacement candidate on March 22, Carina Yoris Villasana, an 80-year-old little-known philosophy professor, widow and grandmother. As the candidate registration deadline fell on March 25, the opposition was unable to log into the Electoral Council’s online system to register Ms Yoris. “We have exhausted all possibilities,” Yoris told a news conference. “It is not only the name of Corina Yoris that is denied but the name of any citizen who wants to run.”

After this, a party in the opposition coalition was granted an extension and entered the system to register Edmundo González Urrutia, a former ambassador. The opposition said the election was “provisional… given the clear impossibility of registering the candidate selected so far.” Parties can change their ballot until mid-April; A new opposition candidate is likely to be named. Timing will be crucial, as the US has to make a decision on sanctions by April 18.

So far, 10 candidates have registered, but none are linked to an opposition coalition, and some have ties to Maduro or no plausible chances of making it. Advantage polls show the president is heavily unpopular and Machado will defeat him if he can fight.

To make matters worse, Maduro’s security apparatus has tried to silence Machado’s key advisers. Two of them, Dignora Hernandez and Henry Alvarez, were seized in recent days and their staff say they have not been heard from. Several others, including Machado’s campaign manager, facing arrest warrants have taken refuge in the Argentine embassy. David Smolansky, Machado’s representative in Washington, told us she is in physical danger. “Their lives and freedom are at stake,” he said.

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