PSUV First Vice President Diosdadoi Cabello during an episode of his TV program Con el Mazo Dando. Photo: X/@ConelMazoDando.
The first vice president of the United Socialist Party of Venezuela (PSUV), Diosdado Cabello, advised the Venezuelan far-right opposition to stop raising hopes about disqualified candidates.
On Monday, January 8, during PSUV’s weekly press conference, Cabello said that the Supreme Court of Justice (TSJ) may maintain or lift the disqualifications, but until that happens, none of the disqualified politicians could not run for office.
“The Supreme Court of Justice can say yes or no, or say ‘We have nothing to do with it because it is a criminal matter.’ The truth is that at this point, those who are disqualified cannot run, believing otherwise is falling to lies,” Cabello said.
He added that the opposition’s Unitary Platform is already discussing what to do if “this person cannot become the candidate,” referring to the disqualified politician María Corina Machado. Many within the Unitary Platform are suggesting that the opposition choose someone else as candidate for the presidential elections.
Cabello further added that the Unitary Platform has not yet met with María Corina Machado on this matter, because “they are in a labyrinth, presenting a candidacy that does not comply with the law.”
“It is the same labyrinth that reached a dead end, of presenting or supporting a candidacy that does not comply with what is established in the laws… That is nothing apart from disappointment, demoralization, and demotivation of their own supporters,” he said.
Cabello also reiterated what he said at the end of December, denying any sort of negotiations or conversations between María Corina Machado and the Chavista leadership. Towards the end of December 2023, Machado posted a video on social media claiming that she had been in contact and negotiations with Venezuelan government officials, which Cabello dismissed.
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Opposition not complying with the Barbados Agreements
Diosdado Cabello also said that the continuity of the defunct National Assembly of 2015 is a violation of the agreements signed by the Venezuelan government and the opposition in Barbados. Last week the unlawful 2015 National Assembly, formed by the US government to give a veneer of “legality” to the failed “interim government” of Guaidó, announced a “renewal” of its non-existent mandate for another year.
Cabello said that there is only one National Assembly, elected in 2020, and reiterated that the fake 2015 National Assembly is a mechanism for stealing since those who “lead” the fake assembly manage the stolen Venezuelan assets abroad with the complicity of the US government.
He decried that the former deputies of the defunct National Assembly use that money to “go to tennis competitions around the world, travel throughout Europe, and live the good life.”
“This breaks the agreements signed [in Barbados],” he stated. “One thing that the agreements establish is respect for the institutions of Venezuela. The renewal makes no sense now. It is the duty of the judiciary to decide how the thieves will be treated.”
(RedRadioVE) by Ana Perdigón, with Orinoco Tribune content
Translation: Orinoco Tribune
OT/JRE/SC
