(Reuters) – The United States is reviewing its sanctions policy against Venezuela after a court upheld a ban preventing presidential candidate Maria Corina Machado from holding office, the State Department said on Saturday.
The decision handed down Friday by Venezuela’s Supreme Court of Justice means that Maria Corina Machado, a 56-year-old industrial engineer, cannot register her candidacy for the presidential elections scheduled for the second half of 2024.
“The United States is reviewing its sanctions policy against Venezuela, based on this development and the recent political targeting of democratic opposition and civil society candidates,” the spokesperson said. Department of State, Matthew Miller, in a statement.
The United States eased oil sanctions on the crude-exporting country in October after President Nicolas Maduro’s government signed a deal with the opposition under which Caracas committed to holding a free and fair presidential election in 2024.
Matthew Miller said the court’s decision was “very concerning” and went against Nicolas Maduro’s commitments to allow all parties to select their presidential candidates.
On Thursday, Nicolas Maduro declared that the agreement reached with his opponents risked no longer holding due to what he described as “conspiracies” against him.
(Reporting David Ljunggren; written by Diane Craft, French version Benjamin Mallet)
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