CARACAS/BOGOTA (Reuters) -The U.S. embassy for Venezuela said on Friday that presidential candidate Maria Corina Machado had appealed a ban which bars her from holding public office, applauding her and other opposition candidates for taking the action.
The move would mark a change in tact by Machado, who said on Thursday she would not appeal because she has never been officially notified of her ban.
Machado and other prominent opposition figures did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
The embassy, which is based in Bogota in neighboring Colombia, also did not immediately respond to a request for more information.
“We applaud Maria Corina Machado and other candidates for their courage and willingness to appeal their ineligibilities,” the embassy said on social media.
It is up to Venezuela President Nicholas Maduro to demonstrate commitment to competitive elections, the embassy added, calling for the immediate release of “wrongfully detained” Americans and Venezuelan political prisoners.
Machado, 56, is among a handful of prominent opposition figures who have been barred from office in what they say are unfair decisions.
The appeals process, which is open until Friday, was agreed last month at talks in Barbados between the opposition and Maduro’s government.
The United States, which broadly eased sanctions on the government on the back of the guarantees for the 2024 election, had conditioned the continuation of relief on Caracas beginning to lift the bans and free prisoners by Nov. 30.
But the Venezuelan government has not yet begun prisoner releases and the Biden administration has said it is reconsidering sanctions relief.
“We will continue to evaluate sanctions based on meaningful, tangible progress, under the Barbados agreement, to restore democracy,” the embassy added.
Machado has faced a dilemma when weighing whether to appeal, five political sources told Reuters earlier this week. An appeal could be seen as tacit acceptance that the controller general has the authority to ban her. Without an appeal, it would be unclear how the ban could be lifted.
It was not clear which other barred politicians the embassy was referring to and whether they include prominent figures such as former presidential candidate Henrique Capriles and ex-governor Freddy Superlano.
Maduro’s government last week said there were arrest warrants out for three Machado campaign staffers for alleged participation in a plot to undermine a recent referendum on a territorial dispute with Guyana.
Roberto Abdul, a member of the committee which planned the opposition primary, has been arrested in the same case. The embassy called for his release in its post.
The U.S. embassy is not accredited in Venezuela, high-ranking government lawmaker Jorge Rodriguez said on social media, calling the embassy “an office of propaganda for the darkest interests against peace.”
(Reporting by Vivian Sequera, Deisy Buitrago, Mayela Armas and Julia Symmes Cobb; Editing by Christian Plumb and Daniel Wallis)
