begins primary campaign to define opposition presidential candidate

4 min

There are 13 pre-candidates who could become the presidential candidate who will face President Nicolas Maduro in the next elections in Venezuela. This Tuesday, August 22, the opposition primary campaign began, set for October 22, which will define Maduro’s opponent for the 2024 presidential elections.

Facing next year’s elections, which will be the first in five years, the thirteen candidates decided that they have something in common: their political principles and ideals. For this reason, all those who will participate in the so-called “anti-Chavista primaries” have signed a document that establishes these common principles.

The agreement also defines that the twelve that are not victorious will support the winner of the primaries so that they have the best chance of defeating President Maduro.

“The country must move forward with changes that consolidate a new political, economic and social model,” says the document from the National Primary Commission, the opposition body in charge of organizing these party elections.

Next October, Venezuelans will be able to vote in 331 of the 335 municipalities in the country. They will also take the primaries abroad, in 80 cities in 31 countries, according to the document, giving the option of speaking to 397,168 Venezuelan citizens.

“We will have a presence in 98.8% of the country and a deployment of more than 3,000 voting centers,” said Roberto Abdul, a member of the National Commission for Primaries, during a press conference.

The more than 20.3 million citizens who are registered in the official register are called to the electoral appointment to define the future opponent of the ruling party.

The main faces of the opposition primaries

Although there are more than a dozen pre-candidates, the favorites are two: the two-time former presidential candidate Henrique Capriles and the former deputy Maria Corina Machado.

Capriles was at the gates of the presidency twice after the death of Hugo Chavez in 2013 and Corina Machado was the legislator with the most votes in 2010. However, both are disqualified from running in the 2024 elections due to alleged irregularities of which they were accused. for the ruling party

Capriles has been disabled for 15 years since 2017, when the Comptroller General’s Office imposed the sanction on him for alleged administrative irregularities. Machado, for her part, is accused of corruption – allegedly occurred in a plot orchestrated by Juan Guaido, opposition leader and self-proclaimed interim president in 2019 – and also of concealment of assets. The national judicial authorities assured that the sentence has been firm since 2015, but it was not made public until last June.

However, both Capriles and Machado have assured that the sentences have a political overtone and that they plan to run in the presidential elections next year. If either of the two is elected as a presidential candidate, it is not clear if they could participate in the 2024 electoral process due to their disqualification.

Climate of violence and threats to pre-candidates

In addition to funding problems, the opposition campaign has had other incidents. A month ago, Maria Corina Machado denounced death threats supposedly signed by the guerrilla of the self-styled National Liberation Army (ELN), in one of her party’s headquarters on the border with Colombia.

Just a few days ago, Capriles had to suspend a campaign event in Apure because some bikers stormed the place and intimidated those present at the event. Both have pointed to the government of Nicolas Maduro for these attacks against them, but neither has provided evidence to support the accusations.

In relation to these events, the National Commission for Primary Education (CNP) of Venezuela asked for “respect” for all the presidential candidates and for their integrity.

“The primary is peaceful, democratic and constitutional and has the objective of choosing, through voting, a candidate to participate in the 2024 presidential elections (…) Respect, peaceful mobilization and the democratic conviction that voting is the greatest tool for change must mark the race that begins today for the unitary candidacy,” the CNP said in a statement.

Despite the incidents recorded to date, the opposition primaries are continuing and all opposition leaders have confirmed that they will take place. There are even more questions about the 2024 presidential election, mandatory under the Constitution but for which no official date has yet been set.

With EFE and AP