©Reuters. Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro greets supporters after accepting the candidacy of Venezuela’s ruling United Socialist Party (PSUV) to run for another term in the July 28, 2024 elections, at the Poliedro de Caracas, Venezuela, in this photo published o
By Mayela Armas
CARACAS (Reuters) – Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro will run for a second re-election to secure another six-year term in polls scheduled for July 28, the ruling Socialist Party said on Saturday.
Maduro, 61, a former union leader, was proclaimed candidate of the socialist party by vice president Diosdado Cabello, and took to the stage of a large sports arena to address supporters.
“There is only one result, the victory of the people on July 28,” Maduro said, wearing a bright red zip-up jacket. “They have not been able to stop us, nor will they be able to.”
Recent polls show that 13.9% of Venezuelans plan to vote for Maduro, far behind opposition candidate Maria Corina Machado’s 54.5%.
But even though Machado won the opposition primary in October, it is unclear whether she will appear on the ballot after the country’s highest court upheld a ban barring her from holding public office.
Candidates have until March 25 to register and it is unclear whether the opposition will nominate a replacement for Machado, who is under growing pressure to choose a replacement.
The United States partially lifted sanctions on the Venezuelan government in late 2023 due to an electoral deal with the opposition, but the nascent rapprochement ended with the arrest of opposition figures and the court’s decision on Machado. The United States has pledged to reinstate oil sanctions from mid-April.
Ruling party sources told Reuters that Maduro’s policy reversal could be due to declining popularity among his base.
Venezuela has suffered unprecedented hyperinflation and economic collapse since Maduro took power in 2013 following the death of his mentor, President Hugo Chavez.
The country has seen intermittent waves of protests against the ruling party and Maduro, particularly between 2014 and 2017, resulting in dozens of arrests and killings.
The main opposition parties boycotted the 2018 presidential election and refused, along with the United States and others, to recognize Maduro’s victory.
Maduro achieved a 1.5% victory in the 2013 election, which even the then-opposition candidate said was fraudulent.