Venezuela: Brief Background of Opposition Presidential Candidates

By Mision Verdad – May 6, 2024

Venezuela is approaching its presidential election day, July 28, 2024, in a complex context with marked differences from previous elections. The country continues to face illegal sanctions imposed by the United States, the impact of which has been significant on its economy. However, thanks to the right decisions of the Venezuelan government, the oil industry and the national economy are showing a progressive trend of recovery.

The regional landscape has also changed since the 2018 presidential elections. Venezuela no longer faces a bloc of Latin American governments subordinated to the US strategy, and the level of siege and political pressure against the country is less aggressive.

In this context, different factions of the Venezuelan opposition, following the guidelines of the National Electoral Council (CNE), have presented their nominations and have been accepted by the electoral branch. Below, we present a brief profile of each of them:

• Edmundo González Urrutia: Candidate for the far-right Unitary Platform (PUD). He has academic qualifications in international relations, obtained in the United States, and began his diplomatic career as secretary of the Venezuelan embassy in the US. Subsequently, he worked in the General Directorate of International Policy of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and served as the international liaison of the Democratic Unity Roundtable (MUD) between 2013 and 2015. In this last position, González Urrutia was in charge of designing strategies for non-recognition against President Nicolás Maduro internationally. He reflects a strong interest in realigning Venezuela with the US sphere of influence, leaning towards a relationship of neo-colonial tutelage and subordination.
• Antonio Ecarri: A dissident Venezuelan lawyer and politician from the ranks of the Justice First (PJ) party with experience as an alderman in the Chacao municipality. He has expressed differences with the traditional far-right opposition and has been building the image of being an alternative to it. He presents his candidacy as a “center option” to overcome the polarization between Chavismo and the traditional far-right opposition. The founder of the Alianza del Lápiz organization, Ecarri stands out for his sectoral work in the educational area, which has allowed him to stand out in Caracas and Miranda state. He has the support of the Fuerza Vecinal party since the resignation of Manuel Rosales as the party’s own candidate.
• Luis Eduardo Martínez: The presidential candidate for Democratic Action (AD), a party led by Bernabé Gutiérrez. He represents a new leadership within the traditional Venezuelan organizations that changed their political direction because they disagreed with the abstentionist electoral strategy. In an interview, Martínez stated that some radical elements of the opposition are not motivated by national interests, which is why he distances himself from them. He has support from Copei and the Popular Democratic Right parties.
• José Brito: Venezuelan politician who serves as a deputy in the National Assembly, elected in 2020. He stands out for his critical position towards the majority of the far-right opposition grouped in the Unitary Platform (PUD), considering international sanctions as a threat to the Venezuelan economy. Like Martínez, he is part of the leadership that was formed in the opposition parties abandoned by the abstentionist leaders. In April 2024, the Supreme Court of Justice (TSJ) appointed Brito as leader of an ad hoc board of directors of PJ, allowing him to present candidates to the CNE.
• Daniel Ceballos: Serves as presidential candidate for the Arepa party. His political career includes his tenure as mayor of San Cristóbal in 2013, interrupted by an arrest warrant by the TSJ for having supported the 2014 guarimbas and calling for violence. Thanks to dialogues promoted by the Venezuelan government, he received a pardon and returned to politics. Ceballos was part of the Popular Will (VP) party during his political rise, but has distanced himself from the party due to differences with its violent and radical strategy. He states the guarimbas were a mistake that weakened the opposition.
• Javier Bertucci: He is an evangelical pastor, businessman, and politician who has run for president twice for the El Cambio party. He is currently a deputy in the National Assembly. Although he identifies himself as an opponent of Nicolás Maduro’s government, his approach is distinguished from the traditional opposition due to his openness to dialogue. Bertucci managed to obtain 11% of the vote in the 2018 presidential elections, making him one of the few political actors capable of attracting voters beyond the typical division between Chavismo and the opposition.
• Benjamín Rausseo: He is running as a candidate outside of traditional political parties, seeking to attract voters disenchanted with polarization and existing party structures. He has spoken out against the international sanctions imposed on Venezuela. Juan Barreto’s Redes party has withdrawn its support for him due to ideological differences, claiming Rausseo has expressed neoliberal ideas on the privatization of Education. Redes also cited a perception that Rausseo is carrying out an “empty” campaign without connection to the people.
• Claudio Fermín: The political career of Claudio Fermín, former mayor of Caracas, is characterized by his experience in public management and his moderate stance within Venezuela’s political opposition. He began his career in the Democratic Action party, but his dissent from the party line led him to separate from it. He founded the Solutions for Venezuela party, which he currently leads. He has participated in dialogue initiatives with the national government, seeking agreements in favor of the country and against sanctions.
• Enrique Márquez: Former rector of the CNE. He upholds that participation in elections is the only legitimate and effective way to achieve political change in Venezuela. He joined the Un Nuevo Tiempo party in 2007 but was expelled in 2018 for supporting Henri Falcón’s presidential candidacy, contradicting the abstention strategy promoted by the MUD. He believes that international sanctions have failed to weaken the national government and, rather, have harmed the Venezuelan population.

Machado’s Maracaibo Rally: Media Fuss Clashes With Reality

When analyzing the profiles of this spectrum, the lack of unity and underlying strength within the opposition can be clearly observed. Although all the candidates are facing the Maduro government, they represent a wide range of political positions that seem to be irreconcilable with each other.

This current fragmentation has its roots in a series of strategic errors over the years. These errors include the excessive influence of María Corina Machado in the problematic 2023 opposition primaries, where she imposed her candidacy despite being already politically disqualified, marginalizing dissident voices.

Machado’s refusal to name a replacement [on time] exacerbated these divisions. The result of this was the unilateral imposition of Corina Yoris as a temporary candidate and, finally, the last-minute support for Edmundo González Urritia, a candidate who sometimes seems to be a replacement option for María Corina, at other times one that responds to the [centrist] sectors represented in the PUD. Yet, González Urritia never seems to be an option agreed upon by all the opposition factions, much less when there has been an electoral offer full of candidates with their own specific agendas.

(Misión Verdad) with Orinoco Tribune content

Translation: Orinoco Tribune

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