Presidential candidates in Venezuela have only until 25 March to register for the election on 28 July. The poll date, announced this week, is months earlier than expected.
While President Nicolás Maduro, who has been in power for 11 years, is widely expected to seek re-election, his opponent, María Corina Machado, is banned from holding office for alleged financial misconduct. She denies all the charges against her.
The BBC reports that the early election date may leave little time for the Venezuelan opposition to choose a potential replacement for Machado. Despite the ban, she has continued to campaign and is determined to run.
In 2023, the government and opposition signed an agreement which laid some of the groundwork for the 2024 elections to be recognised by both sides.
Following the deal, the US eased its sanctions on Venezuela’s oil sector. The restrictions had been imposed after what Washington said were ‘illegitimate’ elections in 2018.
In January, the US threatened to reinstate the sanctions, after Venezuela’s top court upheld a ban on opposition candidate Machado.
According to the BBC, Washington has a vested interest in supporting steps which ease the crisis in Venezuela as the dire state of the country’s economy has driven more than seven million Venezuelans to emigrate, with many heading to the US.
[Image: Eneas de Troya, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=76581362]