The Venezuelan opposition coalesced last week around Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia, a little known former ambassador who became its sole candidate tasked with taking on President Nicolás Maduro's ironclad grip on power.
He rose to the spot after the opposition's main candidate, Maria Corina Machado, was banned from running, and her stand-in replacement, Corina Yoris, was prevented from doing so as well.
Gonzalez Urrutia, among the few who were indeed allowed to sign up got the support from the opposition's main actors, who highlighted the need to face Maduro at the polls regardless of who did it.
However, even though Gonzalez Urrutia was indeed allowed to sign up, the opposition might face yet a new hurdle in its goal: the government-friendly Supreme Court is set to analyze a suit against the candidate's party, rather than himself.
Infobae reported that the court will review a suit against the Mesa de la Unidad Democratica (MUD), which Gonzalez Urrutia is set to represent in the elections.
This comes after the judiciary intervened a party led by former presidential candidate Henrique Capriles, and handed over its control to a Maduro ally. Following that event, the court ordered the National Electoral Council to "temporarily abstain from accepting any candidacy for electoral processes that is not approved by the Ad Hoc board."
The court's decision will determine the opposition's next step, as it's seemingly determined to compete at the polls despite the government's maneuvers, which have led the U.S. government to reinstate its sanctions on the oil industry as it determined there was no substantial progress toward freer and fairer elections.
Polls are an encouragement to continue moving in that direction. A study from mid-April shows that 81% of respondents do not want Maduro to remain in power while 10% want him to do so, and 9% said they do not know.
Four in ten Venezuelans would consider leaving the country if Nicolas Maduro were to be reelected to the presidency, with only 16% expressing their desire to remain in the country in that scenario.
The survey, based on interviews with 1,000 people across the country, also showed that a vast majority (74%) consider María Corina Machado to be the most reliable and credible political leader in the country, while 72% said they would vote for her if she were allowed to compete. Machado and the rest of the opposition threw their support behind Edmundo Gonzalez, giving him a solid chance at the polls.
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