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For those who didn’t know, it was a mesmerizing sight. On March 25, President Nicolás Maduro enthusiastically appeared at the headquarters of the National Electoral Council in Caracas to present himself as a candidate in the Venezuelan presidential elections scheduled for July 28.
By The Economist
Outside, a spontaneous crowd of supporters reportedly gathered – the bus convoy that brought them into the city was hidden from state television broadcasts. Inside, the candidate, wearing a white tracksuit in the colors of the Venezuelan flag, greeted election officials before delivering a fiery speech in which he described his opposition as a group of nepotistic oligarchs. His wife and son, both influential politicians, were sitting in the front row. The President declared, “The people have the power.”
but it’s not like that. If they had, Maduro would no longer be in power. The unpopular dictator has faced a devastating recession, causing nearly a quarter of the population to flee in the past decade. Their government continues only because they have crushed Venezuelan democracy. His last re-election in 2018 was a farce, requiring many opposition leaders to be prevented from running away. This year’s competition will take place again.
In a fair fight, the President will face Maria Corina Machado. Machado, a conservative and longtime critic of the government, won 93% of the vote in opposition primaries held in October. In a poll last year, he received 70% support, while Maduro received 8.3% support. But the regime-controlled Supreme Court has banned him from holding political office for 15 years. To overcome this obstacle, on 22 March, the former deputy and the coalition of parties supporting him presented an alternative candidate in his place.
His candidate was Corinna Yoris, 80, a distinguished professor of philosophy. A grandmother of seven and three immigrant children, her story can resonate almost across the country. And there was another reason why it seemed like an inspired choice: Surely even the Maduro regime, with its reputation for cruelty, would hesitate to imprison a friendly grandmother.
Instead, it blocked Yorris by preventing political parties that supported him from registering their candidacies on the Electoral Council’s computers before midnight on 25 March, the same day Maduro celebrated his spontaneous registration. The next day, the election authority confirmed the registration of another 12 candidates. Most can be classified as regime loyalists or completely harmless false opponents.
The only person who has even the slightest chance of mounting a challenge and who – perhaps suspiciously – managed to register just minutes before the deadline, is Manuel Rosales, the governor of Zulia state. He had already participated in the 2006 presidential elections and lost to the late Hugo Chávez. This time he did not even participate in the opposition primaries. His party describes him as “a man of dialogue”. Many in the opposition fear he is a puppet, installed to give a façade of legitimacy to a rigged election that Maduro would clearly win. “He took his pants off a long time ago,” says one Julia resident. Yoris calls him “Judas.” Machado refused to support him. “The government has chosen its candidates,” he replied.
It seems that the real opposition has managed to register a candidate, even though Yoris has been blocked. Former ambassador Edmundo Gonzalez is apparently a temporary candidate, who could be replaced by someone else by April 20.
Amid the chaos, some weary Venezuelans resort to sly humor. Following the publication of the preliminary list of candidates, all men, an image appeared on social networks in which they were all wearing identical Maduro mustaches. But for those at the forefront of the resistance against a regime consolidating its dictatorial power, the events of recent months are no joke.
On March 20, the Attorney General issued arrest warrants for Machado’s campaign manager and eight other members of his team. One of them, a political consultant named Dignora Hernandez, was heard shouting “Help!” Was filmed screaming. Please, no!”, while he was forced into the back of a car by State Security Police in Caracas. There has been no news of him since then. Several staff who have not yet been detained are believed to be taking refuge in the Argentine Embassy. On March 26, the regime cut off electricity to the ambassador’s residence, forcing Argentina to file an official complaint.
Maduro’s alleged faith in democracy is becoming absurd by the day. He praised Russian President Vladimir Putin’s election victory as an “impeccable electoral process” that “demonstrated democracy in an exemplary manner.” Maduro’s authoritarianism has also been condemned by the leftist governments of Brazil and Colombia, which are generally sympathetic to him. On 26 March, the Colombian Foreign Ministry expressed concern about “the difficulties faced by the majority sector of the opposition” when registering candidates. Brazil announced that it was following the electoral process with concern. The regime immediately accused both governments of “serious interference” in Venezuelan affairs.
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