Venezuelan ex-legislator Maria Corina Machado on Tuesday said that she had been barred from public office for one year, a move that could prevent her from becoming a joining the Venezuelan National Assembly if she wins a seat in December’s elections.
Machado, a legislative candidate in the central Miranda State, said on Twitter that she has 15 days to appeal, according to a letter from the Comptroller’s Office. However, the decision would still allow her to campaign.
It was not clear on what grounds she was barred and the Comptroller’s Office could not be reached for comment. The office has disqualified candidates from holding public office for irregular use of public funds. Opposition leaders say these are excuses to sideline political opponents.
“They are acting like the dictators they are,” Machado said on Twitter. “They should prepare themselves; we are going to act like the majority we are.”
Polls predict that Venezuela’s socialist government will lose the Dec. 6 election amid a scarring recession, spiraling inflation and shortages of basic goods, including medicines and corn flour.
Opposition activists say Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro seeks to win by cowing the opposition.
Daniel Ceballos, a jailed former mayor who is also running for the legislature, was similarly barred from holding public office.
The opposition Democratic Unity coalition cried foul after the electoral board mandated that a minimum of 40 percent of candidates be women a month after the bloc held its primaries.
“Venezuela’s opposition leaders are the desperate government’s target,” the coalition said on Twitter. “The new objective is Maria Corina Machado.”
Machado, a leader of last year’s street protests, has clashed with the government before.
She was stripped of her legislative seat last year on charges that she violated the constitution by speaking against Maduro at a meeting of the Organization of American States.
She was later indicted on charges that she took part in an alleged plot to kill Maduro. She has denied the accusations.
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