Venezuela opposition candidate backtracks, appeals public office ban By Reuters

CARACAS/BOGOTA (Reuters) -Venezuela opposition presidential candidate Maria Corina Machado said on Friday she will do “whatever it takes”, after appealing a ban which bars her from holding public office and could prevent her from running in 2024.

The U.S. embassy for Venezuela had earlier in the afternoon applauded appeals by politicians including Machado, who had said on Thursday she would not appeal because she has never been officially notified of her ban.

Machado, 56, is among a handful of prominent opposition figures who are subject to the measures, which they say are unfair.

The appeals process, which is open until Friday, was agreed last month at talks in Barbados between the opposition and President Nicholas Maduro’s government.

“They will not remove us from the electoral path,” Machado told journalists as she left the Supreme Justice Tribunal, referring to Maduro’s government. “I will do whatever it takes, we are going to get to the end, the ball is now in the regime’s court.”

“We applaud Maria Corina Machado and other candidates for their courage and willingness to appeal their ineligibilities,” the U.S. embassy, which is based in Bogota in neighboring Colombia, said on social media.

It is up to Maduro to demonstrate commitment to competitive elections, the embassy added, calling for the immediate release of “wrongfully detained” Americans and Venezuelan political prisoners.

The United States, which broadly eased sanctions on the government on the back of the guarantees for the 2024 election, had conditioned the continuation of relief on Caracas beginning to lift the bans and free prisoners by Nov. 30.

But the Venezuelan government has not yet begun prisoner releases and the Biden administration has said it is reconsidering sanctions relief.

“We will continue to evaluate sanctions based on meaningful, tangible progress, under the Barbados agreement, to restore democracy,” the embassy added.

Machado has faced a dilemma when weighing whether to appeal, five political sources told Reuters earlier this week. An appeal could be seen as tacit acceptance that the controller general has the authority to ban her. Without an appeal, it would be unclear how the ban could be lifted.

It was not clear which other barred politicians the embassy was referring to and whether they include prominent figures such as former presidential candidate Henrique Capriles and former legislator Freddy Superlano.

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. The embassy called for his release in its post.

The U.S. embassy is not accredited in Venezuela, high-ranking government lawmaker Jorge Rodriguez said on social media, calling the embassy “an office of propaganda for the darkest interests against peace.”