The United States stressed that Maduro has until April to challenge Maria Corina Machado’s presidential candidacy.

The White House reiterated this Wednesday that the Nicolás Maduro regime in Venezuela is honoring its “commitments” to free elections by spring (April 2024), which Washington has demanded. qualification of the opposing candidate Maria Corina Machado.

White House Security Council spokesman John Kirby responded at a press conference when asked about the Venezuelan government’s threat to suspend migrant flights if the United States reinstates its economic sanctions on the South American country.

“The Maduro regime committed last fall to allowing some Free and fair elections and to facilitate the participation of opposition parties. “You have until the spring to fulfill this commitment,” Kirby said.

The spokesperson said The United States will monitor the situation “closely.” But he did not want to go into detail about the economic retaliation Washington would take in the event of a disagreement.

After Chavismo and the opposition agreed last October in Barbados on a roadmap for 2024 presidential elections, Washington lifted a series of economic sanctions on Venezuela for six months.

But Venezuela’s Supreme Court last week upheld Machado’s 15-year electoral disqualification, after the United States announced on Tuesday the reimposition of sanctions on Venezuela’s gold sector within two weeks and threatened to do the same to the oil and gas sector in April. .

The Vice President of Venezuela’s regime, Delsey Rodriguez, responded that if the Joe Biden administration reinstates the sanctions, Caracas will suspend repatriation flights for Venezuelan migrants from February 13 that have been in place since late last year to relieve migration pressure. About the United States.

for its part, Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) He called on Maduro to “adopt measures aimed at rebuilding democracy and guaranteeing political participation” and said that political ineptitude in Venezuela “characterizes authoritarian regimes” and contributes to “an atmosphere of repression” that discourages voting.

In recent days, 36 people, including civilians and military personnel, have been detained in Venezuela, including three associates of Machado, whom authorities have linked to five “conspiracies” to kill Maduro. The IACHR condemned a pattern that included “Arbitrary arrest of opposition leaders and union membersLegislative projects that restrict the functioning of civil associations, defamatory statements by higher state authorities and acts of intimidation.

According to an agreement reached last October by representatives of the opposition and Maduro, presidential elections should be held at a date to be determined in the second half of the year.

(With information from AFP and EFE)