(CNN Spanish) — The 14 pre-candidates who will participate in the primary elections of the Venezuelan opposition, scheduled for next October 22, met on Monday under the mediation of the National Commission for the primaries.
The Commission, which is independent of the Venezuelan government, reported through its social networks that it played a coordinating and moderating role during the meeting. He assured that this allowed political leaders to share “visions and actions on the process”, and stressed that it also served to evaluate common strategies “in the face of threats against the primary elections”.
Vente Venezuela pre-candidate María Corina Machado’s team confirmed to CNN that she had to withdraw earlier because she had another previous commitment.
At the end of the meeting, the president of the Primary Commission, Jesús María Casal, underlined that the exchange of just over two hours took place in a cordial atmosphere. He added that this space was founded to “discuss and articulate actions”, with the intention of allowing periodic meetings between pre-candidates.
He also explained that Robert García attended on behalf of the Copei party candidate, Roberto Enríquez, who is currently out of the country.
For his part, Henrique Capriles, candidate for Primero Justicia, has made a new appeal on his Twitter account for unity and to avoid disqualifications among the candidates for the opposition presidential candidacy, considering that this only strengthens the ruling party and weaken the cause of the opposition.
The assembly was held after the interdiction from public offices and the registration of the candidacy of at least three of the pre-candidates for this political contest. Also awaiting the response of two appeals presented to the Supreme Court of Justice, which questioned the holding of these internal elections.
Amid deep fragmentation, the Venezuelan opposition self-managed the primaries on October 22 to elect a single candidate, as a strategy to confront the candidate of the United Socialist Party of Venezuela, which is not yet clear whether it will be the current president, Nicolás Maduro, or someone else. Presidential elections, according to the Constitution, must be held next year, but the date has not yet been announced.
