Maduro ignores María Corina Machado and gets involved with Capriles | International

Nicolás Maduro and Henrique Capriles got into a fight this Tuesday on Twitter. The president of Venezuela has called the opponent a "ghost" and has accused him of promoting "economic warfare." Capriles has responded by stating that his government is “the worst in history”, and has accused him of “wanting to bury democracy”. “Recognize that you failed and you will continue to fail,” he tells her. "There is no way to recover the economy or the well-being of the Venezuelan family", finishing off at the end that the Chavista government that Maduro presides over has stolen in Petróleos de Venezuela "23 billion dollars that do not appear, and that they belonged to the Venezuelan people ”.

The dispute between them began when Capriles commented on a news outlet that cited the customs union to ensure that imports into the port of La Guaira had fallen by 70 percent. The opponent accused Maduro of suffocating importers. The president accused him of lying on his television show, With Maduro +where he assured that the number of containers received increased by 23% in the first semester compared to last year.

In recent days, especially in military acts alluding to Independence Day, on July 5, the country has once again seen a more nervous Nicolás Maduro with accusatory statements, alluding to the existence of a plan to divide the Armed Forces. Armed Forces and unleash protests in the country. Maduro's statements contrasted with the total political and social tranquility.

However, neither Maduro nor the second in command of the Chavista regime, Diosdado Cabello, refer too often to María Corina Machado, from the Vente Venezuela party, a radical oppositionist who, censored, unable to use commercial aviation and without exposure in the media, it has taken off in the electoral preferences with a speed that has surprised everyone and that has both the moderate opponents and the Chavistas themselves worried. Today Machado easily duplicates Capriles, her closest follower of hers in opinion queries, and also Maduro himself.

Machado has just been disqualified by the Comptroller General of the Republic to prevent her from competing. Capriles has endured a similar veto for several years. For the last three years, Capriles has approached the Miraflores Palace in order to engage in some kind of political dialogue that would open up possibilities for reliable electoral appointments, thereby trying to open paths for his own options. Maduro then sought to take the steam off the so-called Interim Government, of Juan Guaidó, and had offered Capriles the possibility of returning his political authorization, something that never materialized.

Once the dissident opposition deputy José Brito read before the cameras the political disqualification of María Corina Machado - a veto that, due to constitutional provisions, is only possible under a final court ruling - Capriles issued a statement expressing solidarity with Machado, in which He even recognizes that it scores in all the polls. The twist seems to have upset Miraflores.

In this intervention, which was highly controversial, Capriles proposed not holding the debate of the candidates, so as not to accentuate the internal differences. He said that it was urgent that they meet to evaluate the tacit and express threats of the Chavista government to the opposition consultation, and affirmed that Alejandro Ratti –an unknown politician who has challenged the opposition primaries in court- “is a rat”.

Maduro blows up the verbal truce with some opponents, trying perhaps to reinforce the voice of the more moderate leaders, such as Capriles, in the face of a phenomenon like Machado's, which has not yet been metabolized politically by the Chavista high command. In recent days, after Ratti's statements requesting a ruling from the courts, rumors have increased regarding some legal measure that would nullify the entire primary election of the opposition factions, a query that seems to be of interest among the citizens who stayed in the country, but which has been received with indifference by the diaspora.

There is apprehension about the possible consequences of a measure such as the suspension of the primary elections with a government that seems to know that it no longer has gasoline in the electoral field. Machado, who has repeatedly stated that the problem in Venezuela is extra-electoral, has declared that his candidacy "is until the end" and has reiterated that he does not accept the measure of this public office. The leader continues to make massive tours of the country, confident in the effect that the primary consultation will have on the development of events and the growth of her options.

Follow all the international information on Facebook and Twitteror in our weekly newsletter.