Venezuela’s Opposition Has a New Consensus Candidate

Venezuela’s main opposition coalition, the Democratic Unity Platform, proposed historian Corina Yoris as their candidate for the presidential elections on July 28, 2024, in light of the disqualification preventing the opposition leader María Corina Machado from competing.

In statements to the press, Machado stated that the decision “arose from the discussion within the Platform forces” and is part of an agreed mechanism to “confront this obstacle,” referring to her disqualification, a sanction she described as “an invalid, totally unconstitutional, and cowardly act.”

Meanwhile, Machado said she will continue “touring all of Venezuela” to bring “strength and hope to every corner of the country,” while continuing her fight against the disqualification that prevents her from competing in elections for public office until 2036.

“We found the right person and (…) it is a person who has the respect of all who have known her throughout her academic, professional, and civic life,” said Machado, referring to Yoris, as a person of her “total trust.”

Corina Yoris says she is “committed to the people”

Machado accused the Maduro government of wanting to “close the electoral route” to “deny all Venezuelans the path to change and to freedom in peace.”

“But they will not succeed, we are determined to move forward and do whatever it takes to stay on this path and fulfill a mandate, a mandate from almost 3 million Venezuelans that we achieved on October 22, in our superb primary, to show the world what we are capable of,” said Machado.

Machado asserted that the opposition majority will find “the antidote” to “every ambush” encountered on the path to the presidential elections.

For her part, Corina Yoris stated that she feels “tremendously committed to the Venezuelan people” and to Machado, whom she thanked for “this act of trust,” and expressed her willingness to move towards “a path of transition in Venezuela.”

Corina Yoris – a graduate in Philosophy, and a PhD in History, as well as a university professor – was unanimously chosen within the Democratic Unity Platform and has the “full support” of Machado.

Likewise, she was a member of the National Primary Commission that organized last October’s elections, in which Machado obtained 92.35% of the votes.

This article was published in Spanish in Confidencial and translated by Havana Times. To get the most relevant news from our English coverage delivered straight to your inbox, subscribe to The Dispatch.