Nearly thirty former presidents of Spain and Latin American countries, among them Mauricio Macrithey supported their opponent Maria Corina Machado after Venezuela’s Supreme Court of Justice (TSJ) ratified a sanction barring him from competing in elections until 2036. “In accordance with the rules of democracy, [Machado] continues to be the legitimate representative of the opposition in Venezuela and its presidential candidate before the international community,” they said.
The document was signed by 29 members of the Democratic Initiative of Spain and the Americas (IDEA). Among the signatories are Mauricio Macri – the only Argentine on the list -, the Spaniard José María Aznar, the Chilean Sebastián Piñera and the Uruguayan Luis Alberto Lacalle.
IDEA asked “the guarantor countries” of the Barbados agreements “to act accordingly” as stated by the government of Nicolás Maduro by signing these documents, that is, to “respect ‘the right of every political actor to choose his own candidate'”.
He also urged the European Union (EU) to “enforce its commitment to ensure Venezuela’s return to the democratic path.”
María Corina Machado in a public appearance in December, in Caracas. Photo by AFPThe pronouncement came after the Political-Administrative Chamber of the TSJ ratified on Friday the administrative measures – both lasting 15 years – against the two-time presidential candidates Henrique Capriles and Machado, who on October 22 they won the primaries organized by the Democratic Unitary Platform (PUD) by a landslide with 92.35% of the votes.
While Capriles – one of the most popular anti-Chavista politicians, according to polls – was punished for alleged “administrative irregularities” detected during his term as governor, Machado is prevented from participating in the elections for having “participated in the corruption conspiracy” orchestrated” by former head of Parliament Juán Guaidó.
The rulings state that their requests “do not comply with what is required” in the Barbados agreements.
In the statement, the IDEA Group recalls that Maduro has placed as head of the Supreme Court “a member of the official party, a former councilor, with no legal practice or judicial career and even less an academic”. It demonstrates, the entity adds, the Venezuelan leader’s “repeated contempt” “for the essential elements and fundamental components of democracy.”
The letter that IDEA published this Saturday also bears the signature of former Colombian leaders Andrés Pastrana and Álvaro Uribe; from Chile Eduardo Frei; from Ecuador Guillermo Lasso, Lenin Moreno, Lucio Gutiérrez, Osvaldo Hurtado and Jamil Mahuad; and from Bolivia Jorge Quiroga and Carlos Mesa.
It was also signed by former Paraguayan presidents Mario Abdo, Federico Franco and Juan Carlos Wasmosy; from Costa Rica Óscar Arias, Laura Chinchilla, Rafael Ángel Calderón, Miguel Ángel Rodríguez and Luis Guillermo Solís; from Panama Nicolás Ardito, Ernesto Pérez and Mireya Moscoso; from Mexico Vicente Fox; and Salvatore Alfredo Cristiani.
Source: Clarin
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