Venezuelan far-right opposition's latest presidential candidate proposal, Corina Yoris, gives a press conference in Caracas on Monday, March 25, 2024. Photo: Matias Delacroiz/AP.
Caracas (OrinocoTribune.com)—By Monday, the last day for presidential candidates registration, 12 opposition politicians registered with Venezuela’s National Electoral Council (CNE) to run in the presidential elections scheduled for July 28.
According to the CNE’s electoral schedule, aspirants were required to register between March 21 and March 25. Subsequently, they will have between April 1 and April 20 to replace candidates, if necessary. On Sunday, March 24, the far-right opposition coalition Unitary Platform (PUD) publicized a request to extend the deadline but clarified on Monday that it was never delivered to the CNE.
The registration of 12 opposition candidates makes it clear that far-right opposition’s attempts to unify behind a single candidate for the presidential elections were unsuccessful, demonstrating once again that the internal differences among opposition factions are flaring up.
Amid this situation, last Friday, far-right opposition politician María Corina Machado, who remains disqualified from holding public office, announced that the historian Corina Yoris would be registered as the Unitary Platfrom’s candidate instead of her, a move that surprised many analysts. During this announcement, Machado announced that the PUD and Un Nuevo Tiempo (UNT) had experienced “log-in issues” while completing the online pre-registration of candidates.
Over the weekend and on Monday, opposition politicians inundated social media platforms complaining about an alleged dirty strategy by Chavismo to prevent the candidacy of Yoris, without clarifying the nature of the issue.
On Monday the registration deadline ended, and the CNE did not announce any extension. Moreover, the CNE authorities did not make any statement validating or rejecting far-right politicians’ claims of alleged Chavista dirty tricks to sabotage Corina Yoris’ registration, thus creating opacity in the process. Some analysts claim that this opacity might not play well for some Chavismo supporters or undecided voters who could buy into the opposition’s claims of being persecuted and prevented from registering its candidates.
Venezuela’s far-right opposition sector has two rectors in the CNE board of directors, but neither of them issued statements or provided any information about the claims of the opposition.
Opposition candidates who have registered with the CNE
Javier Bertucci: On Sunday, National Assembly Deputy Bertucci formalized his candidacy. This would be his second presidential candidacy. In 2018, he did not win the election, in which President Nicolás Maduro was re-elected. On that occasion, Javier Bertucci was the candidate who got the third highest number of votes, obtaining 10.8% of the valid votes.
Benjamin Rausseo: The businessman and comedian known as El Conde del Guácharo also registered his presidential candidacy as an independent on Sunday. “I have no political experience; the little experience I have, I acquired in these two years that I have come with this project,” he declared after registering his candidacy in Caracas. Rausseo is the third most popular electoral option according to recent polls.
Claudio Fermín: Fermín made his presidential candidacy official for the Soluciones party, regsitering to run in a presidential race for the fourth time. On this occasion, the former mayor of Caracas stated that “hostility in the field of politics has been cornering the possibility of proposals, rapprochements, and understandings.”
Luis Ratti: Ratti registered as an independent candidate for the Popular Democratic Right Party. This would be the second time that he aspires to this position: in 2018, he registered but then withdrew his candidacy and supported another candidate. During his registration statement, he accused a sector of the opposition of making calls against electoral participation and of having asked for sanctions against Venezuela, “affecting the stability of the people, the most dispossessed.”
Antonio Ecarri: Antonio Ecarri, from Aragua state, formalized his candidacy before the CNE for the Alianza del Lápiz movement. He announced that he would also have the support of the Avanzada Progresista and Cambiemos parties.
Others who registered their candidacy were Juan Carlos Alvarado (COPEI), José Brito (Venezuela First), Luis Eduardo Martínez (Democratic Action), and Daniel Ceballos (AREPA).
On Monday, another opposition politician, Enrique Márquez, formalized his candidacy with CNE officials. He was nominated by the Centrados political party.
Upcoming political scenarios
During the last few weeks, many opposition analysts advised the far-right opposition to choose the Un Nuevo Tiempo leader Manuel Rosales to run against Maduro.
At the last minutes of registration, the opposition parties UNT and Fuerza Vecinal registered Rosales as their presidential candidate making him the 11th opposition candidate officially running.
Together with Rosales, at the last minute, a candidate for the Unitary Platform (PUD) managed to register Edmundo González Urrutia, the 12th and last candidate admitted for registration.
Opposition analysts explained that this was a last-minute solution after the, not explained, impossibility of registering Corina Yoris. This PUD candidate might be replaced in the coming days after a political agreement is reached between the Venezuelan government and far-right opposition forces, noted the opposition journalist expert in electoral issues Eugenio Martínez in a radio interview this Tuesday.
On Monday night other analysts and politicians were recommending that the Unitary Platform leadership and María Corina Machado ally with centrist opposition parties that have already registered candidates in order to remain in the electoral race. According to them, the most viable option is Antonio Ecarri from the Alianza del Lápiz party.
Meanwhile, three more members of María Corina Machado’s party Vente Venezuela were arrested on Monday for alleged involvement in a planned bombing of the massive Chavista rally that accompanied President Nicolás Maduro during his registration before the CNE. Vente Venezuela and María Corina Machado are not new to destabilization and insurrectional plots, and many of the recent detainees have been making confessions incriminating other Vente Venezuela leaders, including Machado, who does not yet have any arrest warrant against her.
Special for Orinoco Tribune by staff
OT/JRE/SL/SC
UPDATED: Tue, March 26 at 6:41 P.M. (Caracas time).
