Chavismo blocked the registration of María Corina Machado’s replacement, Corina Yoris, due to “system failure”.

According to the opposition, Chavismo is not allowing Corina Yorris to register as a candidate for the presidential elections this Monday. The 80-year-old academic has appeared on behalf of María Corina Machado, an opponent with great political capital who represents a real threat to the continuity of Nicolás Maduro’s power in Venezuela and who has been disqualified. The ploy to prevent the candidacy of Yoris, a university professor who can hardly be disqualified, is that he has held no political or public office, the website has been blocked and access to the building located in the center of Caracas has been blocked. Has been disconnected. Of the army. Of the National Electoral Center (CNE). “My rights as a Venezuelan citizen are being violated by not allowing me to access the system and register my candidacy for the presidency of Venezuela,” Yoris said at a press conference. Opponents, in any case, do not give up their efforts and will try to register until midnight when the deadline expires.

The CNE, controlled by the ruling party, has only allowed all-male candidates to register who do not represent any risk to Chavismo’s continuation in power. He number two Maduro’s assembly president, Jorge Rodríguez, assured the White House and the opposition last year, with whom he struck a deal in Barbados, that he would not oppose the nomination of politicians who were not elected. disabled. However, the Chavista leadership, seeing its stability in the government under threat, has resorted to all kinds of tricks to prevent Yorris from competing, who is impossible to veto because he has an impeccable resume about which there are no ifs or buts. Is. The dream of free presidential elections that would pave the way for democratic transition is vanishing like smoke in the wind.

Currently ten candidates including Maduro are registered. The President of the CNE is Elvis Amoroso, a personal friend of the President and First Lady Celia Flores. “At this moment I represent the political unity of the country, which I believe has not been seen for a long time, if not ever, the way we have seen the represented unity and political forces of Venezuela . Not only are the rights of Corinna Yoris being violated, but also the rights of political parties to offer candidacies that represent that unity. And it is also denying the rights of Venezuelans to nominate and elect the candidate they want to elect,” the candidate, surrounded by opponents, added.

She can present herself with MUD and UNT cards, which were previously validated, but a mysterious failure in the system has prevented this for the time being. Opponents tried to contact the CNE headquarters, but they did not succeed, it is impossible to reach there. The deployment of police and army stops this. In principle, their presence serves to ensure the security of Maduro – who remains haunted by the possibility of assassination – who is going to formalize his registration this Monday, which will be approved unanimously in a congress of the United Socialist Party of Venezuela. Has been approved by. Hopefully he will not have any problems with his candidature.

Opponents who have supported Machado and Yoris in their decision to step down – a coup that Chavismo did not expect – have tried unsuccessfully to ask for an extension, at least for the time being. No one from CNE has taken care of him. Machado’s replacement said, “It is not the name of Corina Yoris that is being denied, it is the name of any citizen who wants to flee because access has been blocked.” Chavismo seems to have closed the doors to any candidacy coming from it, which received more than 2,000,000 votes in the opposition primaries, causing queues at polling stations. This mobilization frightened Chavismo, which tried to respond with a referendum on Essequibo – a territory that belongs to Guyana that was stolen from it during the time of British colonial rule – and this failed. There is not a single photograph from that day to show that people were interested in the issue and came out to vote.

Of the registered candidates, only Antonio Acarri of the Alianza del Lapiz party has spoken so far. He often receives criticism for equating the opposition and the Chavista government (“Venezuela must overcome the dictatorship of both parties,” he wrote on social networks the other day). He clearly says that there is no possibility of majority opposition being registered. “They will let anything that comes from Machado go. There have been very serious conflicts and very deep wounds over many years. “I reject any disqualification, no matter where it comes from,” he replies via WhatsApp. It is likely that those who are in the anti-Chavista majority will support anyone among those registered who That would put Maduro in serious trouble, who for now has assured that he will allow the presence of international observers on voting day. However, this opposition faction believes that those supported by Chavismo are Scorpion, a term to designate politicians whom he believes are in reality nothing more than satellites of the ruling party. In any case, there are a few hours left for registration to close and there will certainly be reports of sabotage and attacks against democracy. Venezuelan political life, a perpetual bonfire.

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