CARACAS, Venezuela: Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro is expected to confirm today (Saturday) that he will run for a third term on July 28 after an 11-year term marked by sanctions, economic collapse and accusations of widespread repression.
The ruling PSUV party said it would formally nominate its candidates on Saturday for the election, which will exclude Maduro’s main challenger, who is the favorite in the polls.
Mr. Maduro, 61, faced no challenger in the “Chavista” movement, named after Hugo Chavez, the president’s popular predecessor, who held power for 25 years.
Since 2013, President Maduro has presided over a severe economic crisis exacerbated by US sanctions that have seen seven million people flee the country while gross domestic product has fallen by 80% in a decade.
“I know that we have had it hard… but what will come, from now to 2030, is progress,” Maduro was seen vowing this week at a political rally in Carupano in Venezuela’s east.
Maduro has maintained power through a system of political patronage, the military, and the support of his three main foreign allies: Cuba, Russia, and China. He consolidated his power over parliament, the judiciary, and other government institutions, while imprisoning and depriving his critics and opponents of power.
Opposition leader Maria Corina Machado, who polls suggest would defeat the incumbent president in a fair election, has been accused of corruption and supporting Western sanctions against the regime. He was disqualified by a pro-Maduro court.
He cannot hold public office for 15 years, nor will the man widely seen as his natural successor, two-time presidential candidate Enrique Capriles.
Maduro’s 2018 re-election to a second six-year term was widely seen as fraudulent, and was not recognized by the United States and dozens of other countries and faced a series of sanctions.
Instead, many countries recognized Congress leader Juan Guaido as interim president.
But Maduro remains in power in oil-rich Venezuela, even after rival governments collapsed, the Ukraine war disrupted energy supplies and shifted global priorities.
After the government and opposition agreed last year in Barbados to hold a free and fair vote in 2024 attended by international observers, the United States imposed sanctions to allow Chevron to resume limited oil drilling.
But after Maduro’s Supreme Court upheld Machado’s disqualification, Washington is considering reinstating the sanctions.
The opposition parties could also call for an election boycott as it had in 2018.
