Venezuelan opposition leader banned from holding public office for 15 years

Former MP Maria corina Axfavored to win the opposition’s presidential nomination in Venezuela’s October primaries, is barred from holding public office for 15 years, the country’s Comptroller General said in a letter.

Machado is 55 years old, industrial engineer and former parliamentarian. She leads the polls among the 13 candidates from the primaries, called to select the candidate who will face President Nicolás Maduro in the 2024 elections.

A previous ban imposed on her was extended because Ax supported US sanctions against the Maduro government and supported former opposition leader Juan Guaidó, the letter said.

Ax she has been barred from leaving Venezuela for nine years and had already been barred from public office for 12 months in 2015 because, according to the Comptroller, she did not include some benefits received when she was a parliamentarian in her declaration of assets. Ax says he never received the benefits.

Legislator José Brito, who is part of the national assembly controlled by the ruling party, asked the Comptroller this week to clarify the situation of Ax.

“The citizen Maria corina Ax Parisca […] is disqualified from holding any public office for a period of 15 years,” said the Comptroller in its response, dated June 27 and shared by Brito this Friday (30).

Axwhich proposed privatizing state oil company PDVSA and restructuring Venezuela’s debt, told supporters on Thursday (29) that “a regime ban is rubbish, it means zero”, adding that it showed that Maduro’s government “is being defeated ”.

The ban does not affect the ability to Ax to run in the primaries, which are being held by the opposition without state support. But that means she couldn’t register with election authorities to appear on the ballot in the presidential race.

The opposition has argued for years that the bans are used by the ruling party to prevent policy change.

“The regime resorts to disqualifications and bans to stay in power and liquidate any resemblance to democracy while deepening the political, social, humanitarian and economic crisis the country is experiencing,” said the Washington-based Organization of American States in a statement rejecting the decision and calling for free and transparent elections.

Primary candidate joins MachadoHenrique Capriles, who ran twice for president in the opposition, was barred from holding public office for 15 years in 2017.