CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) — The U.S. government and nearly 30 conservative world leaders on Saturday condemned the decision of Venezuela’s highest court to block the presidential candidacy of opposition leader María Corina Machado.
“The United States is currently reviewing our Venezuela sanctions policy, based on this development and the recent political targeting of democratic opposition candidates and civil society,” U.S. State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said in a statement.
Machado insisted throughout the campaign that she never received official notification of the ban and said voters, not ruling-party loyalists, were the rightful decision-makers of her candidacy.
The ruling came more than three months after Maduro and the U.S.-backed opposition reached a deal to work on basic conditions for a fair election.
The deal led Washington to ease some economic sanctions on Venezuela's oil, gas and mining sectors.
Persons:
María Corina Machado, Biden, Nicolás Maduro, Matthew Miller, Machado, Miller, Justice “, Maduro, ” Gerardo Blyde, Emmanuel Macron, Luis Inácio Lula da Silva, Gustavo Petro —, Blyde, Maduro’s, Hector Rodríguez, ” Rodríguez, Machado “, Iván Duque, Mauricio Macri, Vicente Fox, Felipe Calderón, ”
Organizations:
Saturday, U.S . State Department, U.S, Justice, Democratic Initiative of Spain
Locations:
CARACAS, Venezuela, U.S, United States, Washington, Barbados, France, Brazil, Colombia, Americas, Venezuelan, Spain, Latin America, Iván Duque of Colombia, Argentina, Mexico, Venezuela's