Democracy in Venezuela just hit a major snag as the highest court in the country upheld the ban on opposition candidate Maria Corina Machado from holding office. This means she could not run against President Nicolas Maduro in the upcoming 2024 elections.

The ban came after repeated attacks from Maduro, who even did a counter-rally against Machado. The leftist president even claimed that the deal that the government had with the opposition in Barbados last year could collapse.

Earlier this week, the Maduro regime claimed that there are "conspiracies" against the Hugo Chavez successor, as well as other high-ranking Venezuelan government officials. The claims stated that the plot against Maduro was dismantled last year, leading to the government arresting nearly three dozen civilians and military personnel, according to Reuters.

This could be problematic for Venezuela, as the country also has a deal with the United States where the Biden administration agreed to partially lift sanctions against Venezuela in exchange for it holding free and fair elections.

This recent upholding of the ban against Machado, as well as pinning her in the "conspiracy" against Maduro, may be seen as an effort by the Maduro regime to stop the agreed upon "free and fair" elections from happening, resulting in the Biden administration re-imposing its sanctions.

The arrests made by the Venezuelan government included several prominent members of the opposition, and the US has already expressed its concern regarding the matter.

Nicolas Maduro Says Barbados Deal Is 'Mortally Wounded'

Maduro himself is hinting that the agreed-upon elections might not happen, too, as he went on a rant against the opposition over the "conspiracies" he claimed that were being done against him.

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"Today the Barbados agreements are mortally wounded, they're in intensive care, they were stabbed, kicked," said the president in a televised statement on state TV. "Hopefully we can save the Barbados agreements and, through dialogue, reach real overarching agreements through national consensus."

In addition, El Pais reported that the Ministry of Popular Power for Defense announced that a division general, two colonels, six lieutenant colonels, and several captains were all demoted or dispelled for their alleged involvement in the "criminal and terrorist" activities against "the legitimately constituted authorities."

Other Maduro allies also lambasted the opposition, with the president of the National Assembly of Venezuela, Jorge Rodríguez, stating that the Barbados agreements "were hanging" and that he was "tired of hearing about free and fair elections."

Maria Corina Machado Vows To Continue Fighting Despite Ban

Despite the Supreme Court reaffirming its ban, Maria Corina Machado, who won the united opposition's nomination with over 90% of the vote last year, remained defiant and rejected the ban, saying that she never received an official notification of the ban and insisted that voters are the rightful decision-makers of her candidacy, according to the Associated Press.

She then said in a statement that her campaign's "fight to conquer democracy through free and fair elections" is not over before blasting Maduro. "Maduro and his criminal system chose the worst path for them: fraudulent elections, that's not gonna happen," she tweeted. However, she did not reveal any details on what her next steps would be.

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This article is owned by Latin Post.

Written by: Rick Martin

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