10 candidates have presented their aspirations to the National Electoral Council (CNE) as of Sunday, March 24, one day before the deadline for applying for the presidential elections on July 28.
Although the website of the organization does not detail who they are, the presence of the politicians – all men – who aspire to the presidency began on Thursday, March 21. However, the democratic unity platform does not yet have access to the system to register the name of Corina Yoris as their candidate.
Election specialist journalist, Eugenio Martínez, noted that there are currently 10 nominations from different political organizations for the presidential elections.
The first to present was the 2020 National Assembly deputy, Luis Eduardo Martínez. The former governor of Monagas state, in the late 20th century, has the support of Acción Democrática, controlled by Bernabé Gutiérrez, since its judicialization by the Supreme Court of Justice (TSJ).
That same day, another politician who has the support of an opposition party that was judicialized by the TSJ also registered. This is Daniel Ceballos, who was mayor of San Cristóbal, a political prisoner, and whose political organization, Arepa Digital, was approved by the CNE. He also has the support of Voluntad Popular.
On March 22, although the nomination is digital or electronic, the former candidate for Caracas Mayor and leader of the Alianza Lápiz, Antonio Ecarri, went to the CNE, with the support of other political organizations such as Avanzada Progresista, the party founded by Henri Falcón.
Who are the candidates as of March 24?
Another deputy from the Parliament with a majority of Chavismo who registered was Juan Carlos Alvarado, who controls the Christian-democratic party Copei, another organization intervened by the TSJ.
The CNE stated that as of Sunday, March 24, 10 candidates and 30 political organizations formalized their nominations. It did not refer to the complaints of the opposition coalition, despite the registration of candidates from a moderate opposition sector that has had participation in the Legislative Power since 2020.
Among the candidates, Claudio Fermín stands out, who is running for president for the fifth time. With his party Soluciones, he presented himself to the electoral body over the weekend. His first nomination was in 1993 with the support of Acción Democrática; he tried again in 1998 but withdrew from the race, returned in 2000 when Hugo Chávez was re-legitimized after the 1999 Constitution.
In 2004, he ran for Mayor of Caracas, in 2008 for the Mayor of Caracas, in 2018 he registered for the presidential elections and then withdrew in favor of Henri Falcón, for whom he was the campaign manager. He ran as a candidate for governor of Barinas in January 2022, when the Electoral Chamber of the TSJ ordered a repeat of the elections that the opposition candidate Sergio Garrido won.
Deputy José Brito, from the 2020 National Assembly, is another nominee. An investigation by Armando.Info places him among a group of parliamentarians who traveled to Europe to intercede on behalf of Alex Saab when he was part of the Primero Justicia bloc in the 2015 National Assembly.
Rausseo, Bertucci, and Ratti
The comedian and lawyer Benjamín Rausseo, who appeared at the top of the polls in early 2023 and was seen as a strong contender in the opposition primaries, also submitted his candidacy. Rausseo declined to participate in the internal opposition consultation that María Corina Machado won with over 90% of the votes.
He now has a party (CONDE), which the CNE approved for these presidential elections on July 28.
Another 2020 National Assembly legislator who submitted his party, El Cambio, is the evangelical pastor Javier Bertucci. In 2018, he was a presidential candidate, known at that time for distributing soup in poor communities and previously for his work in an evangelical Christian church in Carabobo state.
Politician affiliated with Chavismo, Luis Ratti, submitted his nomination. He is known for filing a series of judicial and administrative actions in 2023 against María Corina Machado, the democratic unity platform, and the national primary commission that organized the opposition elections.
His most recent request was last week when he went to the Constitutional Chamber of the TSJ to request the annulment of the Mesa de la Unidad Democrática (MUD) card, one of the two cards the opposition coalition has to nominate candidates.
Other organizations, from the Gran Polo Patriótico, have put forward the candidacy of Nicolás Maduro for reelection. Among them are Podemos, PPT (judicialized), PCV (judicialized), and a party Futuro Venezuela, which was the name of Henri Falcón’s new movement, who denounced the appropriation of his initials to support the current president over the weekend.
“The National Electoral Council (CNE) has satisfactorily complied with the nomination presentation sessions scheduled in the electoral calendar for the 2024 Presidential Election, which began on Thursday, March 21 and will end tomorrow, Monday, March 25,” the organization stated on its website.
