The possibilities that Maria Corina’s successor has

After denying for months that his presidential ambitions would have a successor, Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado finally stepped down last Friday and named Corinna Yoris, 80, professor and philosopher, As his replacement to face Nicolás Maduro in Presidential elections on 28 July.

Machado, disqualified by Chavismo from holding any public office, assured that nominating Yorris was the right decision, which He does not have a political career, but an academic career. Recently, in fact, he was named a member of the National Academy of Languages.

This decision opens many questions, which continue If Yoris has the strength to raise the flag of his brave namesake And unite the broad and often divided spectrum of the opposition around his name.

And the second thing is to see what sport the Nicolas Maduro regime will allow him to play, because although he is not ineligible, Chavismo may adopt some procedure against him, As he has already done with Machado’s closest associates.

Or, for example, that the National Electoral Council (CNE) – with a Chavista majority – does not approve his nomination as a candidate, alleging “errors” in the process. At the moment, registration can only be done by two opposition parties: Democratic Unity Roundtable (MUD) and Un Nuevo Tiempo (UNT).

Machado met Yoris during the commission that organized the primaries and ultimately won by a landslide. Embracing her during a press conference on Friday and describing her as “the grandmother that Venezuela needs”, he said, “Then I met her (…) and from the first day I was struck by her intelligence.” Was affected by.”

“We are on a path of change and we have to go through it together,” Yoris said. “We are all necessary, no one is superfluous here.”

The last date for receipt of applications from candidates for CNE is this Monday. Which can be done online or in person. However, only on the 28th will the Rector of the electoral body define whether the candidacy was officially accepted or not. Till that day it will not be known whether Yoris will be able to take part in the presidential elections or not.

“Today is a great day and I want to take a big step towards victory. We are going to defeat Maduro this year. The regime knows it has lost, it knows the people are with us, we all know that we are a vast majority that is growing. The regime intends to shut down the electoral process and deny Venezuelans the path to freedom, but they are not going to achieve this,” Machado said optimistically during the announcement of his replacement candidate. Was not on the radar.

Chavismo has tried to corner Machado not only by disqualifying him, but also by arresting his associates. Overall, eight people are in jail. Another seven people are wanted by the justice system, which accuses them of being conspirators and wishing to assassinate President Maduro.

“These two men have been arrested in connection with what Emil Brandt Ulloa has confessed to,” said Tarek William Saab, Attorney General of the Republic, referring to alleged prison testimony from an associate of Machado. Dignora Hernández and Henry Alviérez from the opposition circle.

According to Saab, Ulloa might have testified against these people. However, the opposition believes that he was forced to testify against his will.

A risky move?

For analysts, Machado made a master move and exposed the regime’s intentions of not wanting a true rival If they disable Yoris. For this reason, the opposition has once again called on the international community to be cautious.

This is a very smart and strategic move.

Venezuelan political consultant Miguel Velarde says, “This is a very wise and strategic move that will certainly upset the Chavista regime.”

For Velarde, “It is very difficult for Chavismo to invent something to disqualify Yoris.” Furthermore, this is clearly not a decision of Machado alone, but of the entire Unitary Platform, the parties that Maduro’s rivals bring together, as representatives of those parties were together at the declaration.

This move, apparently, lands Madurismo in trouble. And, according to the Delphos Survey study, At least 85 percent of Venezuelans want to change the government And if he attacks Yoris then it will raise questions on the election.

“If Chavismo chose to follow that path, it would delegitimize the electoral process,” Velarde told this newspaper.

For political analyst and consultant Angel Medina, the opposition has been fighting for months amid various rights abuses and violations.

What is being demonstrated in this process is that “the rule is that there are no rules,” Medina says, explaining that he made this statement after seeing how a monitored electoral schedule, calendar Non-publication of, is a day. Permanent electoral registry that shines for its opaqueness and an application system that now has programs. “In short, an infinite number of variables and discretions that limit the opposition,” he says.

After the arrest of his associates in recent days. Machado expects “more than good wishes” from the international community Ensuring that the regime violates more rights every day, as well as the Barbados Agreement signed with the opposition. This agreement laid the foundation for elections in Venezuela and, clearly, the ruling party has not respected it. In fact, an independent UN mission recognized it this week Caracas is reactivating “the most violent form of repression” with new arrest warrants.

Head of Mission, Portuguese Marta Vallinas, presented a new report to the UN Human Rights Council on abuses committed by the government of Nicolás Maduro in Venezuela since 2023, where she highlighted that “the authorities have resorted to intimidation, real or imagined.” They resort to conspiracies.” , Detain and prosecute people who oppose or criticize the government.

fear and threat

Over this period, he indicated, the opposition has moved from a less repressive phase, in which the Nicolás Maduro regime limited itself to creating “a climate of fear and intimidation”. The most violent period “which is active in suppressing the voice of the opposition at any cost.”

For its part, the United States also condemned the arrest of Machado’s closest associates, maintaining that the decision of Maduro and his representatives “represents a The increase in repression against opposition parties is worrying.” The statement says.

There are no conditions to return to the so-called maximum pressure plan

Washington further states that “These actions, along with the detention of many other members of the opposition and civil society this year, as well as the continued disqualification of candidates, undermine the possibility of competitive elections.”

Although there are threats that sanctions will be reimposed on Caracas on April 18, Washington was not so confident on Friday. Joe Biden’s administration assured that it is prepared to keep the sanctions suspended, That’s despite recent arrests of opponents, according to John Kirby, one of the White House spokesmen.

At a press conference, Kirby said Washington was “deeply concerned” by the arrests of Henry Alvirez and Dignora Hernandez on Wednesday. Despite these arrests, Kirby said his country was still “willing to consider sanctions relief” for Venezuela if Barbados complied with the provisions of the agreement reached in October.

For Advisor Medina, however, elections in America are also this year and Donald Trump is likely to win.There are no conditions for returning to the so-called maximum pressure plan”, as was the case in 2019.

Experts agree that the opposition should strengthen unity and support the vote as a way to bring about change in Venezuela. The second is the abyss.

Ana Maria Rodriguez Brazon

el tiempo correspondent

Caracas