Venezuela’s Maduro named as ruling party election candidate

Venezuela’s President Nicolas Maduro has been selected to seek a third, successive term in July 28 elections, a senior ruling party official said Monday.

A vote by the PSUV party concluded that Maduro would be its presidential candidate, Diosdado Cabello, considered the number 2 in the ruling “Chavismo” movement, wrote on X.

Maduro, 61, has not made any announcement himself, but has been widely expected to seek reelection in a vote from which his main challenger has been precluded from running.

The president’s re-election to a six-year term in 2018 — widely considered fraudulent — was not recognized by the United States and dozens of other countries, and was met with a string of sanctions.

Last week, Venezuela’s electoral authority CNE announced elections will be held on July 28 in the South American country which is in dire economic straits.

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That came after Maduro’s government and the opposition agreed in Barbados last year to hold a free and fair vote in 2024 with international observers present.

The deal saw the United States ease sanctions against the oil-rich South American country, allowing US-based Chevron to resume limited crude extraction and leading to a prisoner swap.

The agreement required that opposition candidates be allowed to appeal court rulings disqualifying them from holding office.

Since then, however, the Supreme Court loyal to Maduro upheld a 15-year ban on opposition primary winner Maria Corina Machado and others, prompting Washington to consider reimposing sanctions.