(Reuters) – Venezuela opposition presidential candidate Maria Corina Machado will not appeal her ban on holding public office because she has never been officially notified of it, she said yesterday.
Machado, 56, is among a handful of prominent opposition figures who have been barred from office in what they say are unfair decisions by the controller general.
The appeals process, which is open until Friday, was agreed last month between the opposition and the government of President Nicolas Maduro.
The United States, which broadly eased sanctions on the Maduro government on the back of guarantees for the 2024 election, had conditioned the continuation of that relief on Caracas beginning to lift the bans and free political prisoners and “wrongfully detained” Americans by Nov. 30.
But the Venezuelan government has not yet begun prisoner releases and the Biden administration said earlier this month it was reconsidering sanctions relief.
“We all know that legal timelines are established by law, not by the regime,” Machado told journalists, referring to the Maduro government and in answer to a question about whether she would appeal.
“If I haven’t been notified of any measure, it would be difficult for there to be a deadline.”
Though a letter from the controller confirming her ban was shared publicly in June, Machado has always said she has never received a notification.
Machado faced a dilemma when weighing whether to appeal, five political sources said.
An appeal could have been seen as tacit acceptance that the controller has the authority to ban her, but without an appeal it is unclear how the ban could potentially be lifted.
No other prominent opposition politicians – including former presidential candidate Henrique Capriles and ex-governor Freddy Superlano – have yet appealed their bans.
The Maduro government must allow a serious opposition candidate to run in 2024, U.S. State Department official Brian A. Nichols has said. He has also said Machado’s views will be taken into account by the U.S., given that she won the opposition’s primary nominating contest.
Maduro’s government last week said there were arrest warrants out for three Machado campaign staffers for alleged participation in a plot to undermine a recent referendum on a territorial dispute with Guyana.
Roberto Abdul, a member of the committee which planned the opposition primary, has been arrested in the same case.