2023: Maria Machado Was Disqualified from Public Office for Fifteen Years

Maria Machado was elected to the National Assembly in 2010 and served until she was expelled in 2014. She announced that she would be running in the 2015 election to reclaim her seat. The Comptroller General (CG) is an independent branch of the Venezuelan government. The CG requires financial disclosure forms from government officials every year. In July 2015, the CG Manuel Galindo disqualified Machado from holding public office for twelve months. Machado was barred for neglecting to disclose the full extent of her earnings during her term as a member of the National Assembly [1]. Machado did not appeal the decision. 

On January 10, 2019, Nicolas Maduro was sworn in as President of Venezuela by the Supreme Court President. On January 23, 2019, the National Assembly President Juan Guaido swore himself in as President. The Trump Administration recognized Guaido as President. Guaido organized a “government.” Maria Machado was an advisor to Guaido. He did not pick her to have an official role in his “government.” She said that if Guaido wanted her to, she would run for President. Machado publicly supported Guaido’s agreement with the Trump administration to seize Venezuelan assets. (CITGO). She publicly supported his call for US sanctions.[2]

In 2023 Machado announced her candidacy for the 2024 Presidential election. Jose Brito, who had also announced as a candidate to run against President Maduro, asked the Comptroller General to clarify Machado’s 2015 disqualification to hold public office.[1] [3] The CG Elvis Amoroso announced that Machado was being disqualified for the next fifteen years. He cited her actions in publicly-calling for the U.S. to place coercive sanctions on Venezuela and supporting the seizure of Venezuela’s assets in the US[4]

Machado did not appeal her disqualification to the Supreme Court. She said that she was relying on pressure from Washington in order to secure her name on the ballot.[1] The Biden Administration had temporarily removed several sanctions and promised to permanently remove some sanctions if Machado were allowed to run. The Venezuelan government refused and the U.S. reinstated the sanctions.[5] Machado appealed her disqualification to the Supreme Court. Her disqualification was upheld by the Court. A former diplomat, Edmundo Gonzalez, agreed to run in Machado’s place. It was reported that Gonzalez had agreed to appoint her as Vice President if he was elected. Gonzalez would then resign and Machado would be President. [6]


1.Venezuelanalysis, Far Right Candidate Ratifies Hardline Stance, Reliance on US Support, November 7,2023

2.Venezuelanalysis, Supreme Court Denies Maria Corina Machado Appeal, Ratifies Political Ban, January 27, 2024

3.ALBA ciudad, Deputy Brito Confirms Disqualification of Maria Corina Machado, June 30, 2023

4. Reuters, Venezuela bars Leading Opposition Candidate Machado from Holding Office, June 30, 2023

5.The Hill, US Reimposing some Venezuela Sanctions after Opposition Candidate Ban, January 30, 2024

6. Orinoco Tribune, Presidential Elections in Venezuela: PSUV Leader Diosdado Cabello Reveals Electoral Pact Between Opposition’s Maria Corina Machado and Edmundo Gonzalez, June 14, 2024

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