María Corina Machado, a former elected member of Venezuela’s National Assembly, has been gaining traction as the potential standard-bearer for that autocratic country’s democratic opposition in elections scheduled for next year. Credible polls project her to lead in this year’s Oct. 22 primary through which opponents of President Nicolás Maduro plan to select a single candidate to run against him.
But now it seems Ms. Machado might never get the chance. The Maduro regime announced June 30 that she is disqualified from holding public office — for 15 years — purportedly because of her past support for U.S. sanctions on Caracas. Ms. Machado vowed to continue her campaign, arguing, plausibly, that the attempt to ban her is a sign of weakness by an unpopular government that “knows it is already defeated.”
The fact remains that Mr. Maduro can probably force her to the sidelines if he is determined to do so, just as Nicaragua’s dictator, Daniel Ortega, barred his principal opponents from running in 2021. Two other leading opposition candidates in Venezuela face bans already. And the Maduro regime recently announced a complete replacement of the 15-member National Electoral Council, which will supervise the general elections in 2024. In charge of the hiring process: Mr. Maduro’s wife, Cilia Flores.
All of the above threatens the already slim chances of a peaceful democratic transition in Venezuela, which desperately needs one after a decade of economic collapse, political repression and systematic corruption under Mr. Maduro.