What is happening in Venezuela? 10 things you need to know

Latest update: March 27, 2024 5:00pm

With Presidential elections scheduled to take place on July 28 2024, the situation in Venezuela is evolving rapidly, there is a lot of misinformation and disinformation, which makes fact-checking crucial.

Here are 10 things to know about what is happening in Venezuela now.

1. On March 5 the Maduro government announced that presidential elections would take place in Venezuela on July 28. The Barbados Agreement states that elections should be carried out in the second half of the year. However, as the electoral calendar was published late, the opposition only had four days to register their candidates (March 21-25). The schedule gives little time for voters to register or update their information, for electoral observation missions to be invited and organized, and in general for the preparation of  such an important event.
2. María Corina Machado (Vente Venezuela), who was elected in the opposition primaries as the main presidential candidate last October with over 90% of the vote, remains arbitrarily banned from running for office and had to name a substitute on March 22. That substitute was Corina Yoris, an academic and former member of the National Commission of Primaries. 
3. The National Electoral Council banned 16 parties from participating in the presidential elections. The only opposition parties authorized to present candidates were Un Nuevo Tiempo (UNT) and Mesa de la Unidad Democrática (MUD). 
4. The main coalition of opposition parties was unable to register Corina Yoris as a candidate by the March 25 deadline. The process for registering candidates starts with an online application and neither of the opposition parties authorized to do so were able to access the portal. They denounced this publicly. 
5. While certain candidates like Benjamin Rausseo, Daniel Ceballos, José Brito and others were registering without obstacles, the main opposition parties were uniting to demand that the government allow Corina Yoris to register as their candidate. The National Electoral Council did not allow her to do so. This represents a clear violation of political rights and lays bare the authoritarian nature of the government.
6. Just before midnight on March 25, the deadline for candidates to register, Manuel Rosales announced that he was able to present his candidacy for UNT. Manuel Rosales is the governor of Zulia, was the mayor of Maracaibo, and was a presidential candidate in 2006 against Chávez. He was persecuted and forced into exile in 2009. His candidacy is controversial because he does not have the support of the parties that are members of the Unitary Platform, a coalition of opposition parties. Some supporters say that his candidacy is better than not having an opposition candidate, while others say that, since he was able to register, he should have registered Corina Yoris. 
7. At the very last minute and after fighting for a 12 hour extension, the MUD was also able to register a candidate: Edmundo González Urrutia, a former ambassador and member of the MUD. 
8. Now, the National Electoral Council needs to approve or reject the registered candidates between March 28 and April 1. Then, the political parties that are in the race with approved candidates will have from April 1-20 to name a substitute candidate if they decide to do so. [Note 1- In Venezuela, especially in regional and legislative elections it is common for candidates to name a substitute upon their registration, and the law contemplates specific moments in which that can be done. Note 2-  Substitute candidates need to be approved by the National Electoral Council by April 20 in order to appear on the ballot. If substituted after that date, the name of the original candidate is the one that appears on the ballot].
9. Argentina, Brazil, Canada, Colombia, Costa Rica, the Dominican Republic, Ecuador, the European Union, Guatemala, Uruguay, the U.S, Paraguay and Peru have issued statements condemning the obstacles to prevent candidates from registering. Maduro has responded with outrage, accusing them of meddling in internal affairs. Nicaragua, on the other hand, expressed its solidarity to Maduro.
10. At the time of writing, after a very tense 72 hours and after the government was successful in preventing María Corina Machado from competing, the electoral registry for Venezuelan citizens abroad to register to vote was opened in Colombia, Ecuador and Spain. There are still many countries, including the U.S., that do not have diplomatic relations with Venezuela and therefore Venezuelans residing in these countries will not be able to vote. Out of the 7.7 million Venezuelans that have fled the country, almost 5 million are over 18 years old but only 107,904 are registered to vote.