CNN Central News & Network–ITDC India Epress/ITDC News Bhopal: The path to Venezuela’s pivotal July 28th presidential elections has descended into chaos and crisis. Observers charge that the authoritarian Nicolás Maduro regime doubled down on undemocratic tactics to kneecap the beleaguered opposition. In a race that will shape the future of this once prosperous nation, they say President Maduro appears determined to deny Venezuelan voters a true choice at the ballot box.
At the midnight deadline on Monday for registering candidates, the regime blocked the main opposition coalition’s nominee, lawyer Corina Yoris, from formalising her candidacy.
María Corina Machado had emerged as the opposition’s leading candidate and choice to challenge incumbent Nicolás Maduro in July’s presidential vote. However, in a move typical of efforts to sideline dissenting voices, Machado was banned from being able to run for president.
With Machado functionally eliminated from the race as the opposition candidate, she hand-picked octogenarian lawyer Corina Yoris as a replacement nominee to represent their interests.
But in the chaotic final hours before the registration deadline, authorities doubled down and prevented Yoris from submitting her paperwork as well, leaving the fumbling opposition without a unified presidential candidate at this late stage.
In dramatic scenes caught by international media, Yoris and her team were physically barred from entering the national electoral council’s offices to submit her paperwork.