Venezuela Blocks Opposition Leader Machado’s Presidential Run
- Decision raises questions about US sanctions relief deal
- Maduro taking harder line as he braces for election this year
Maria Corina Machado
Photographer: Carlos Becerra/BloombergThis article is for subscribers only.
Venezuela’s top court closed the path for opposition leader Maria Corina Machado to run for president this year, putting the Biden administration in the awkward position of deciding whether to reinstate sanctions it had suspended to support free and fair elections in the Latin American country.
The court said on Friday it was ratifying a 2021 decision by the Comptroller’s Office that barred Machado, who’s been leading opinion polls for the election, from running for public office for 15 years.