CARACAS (Reuters) – Venezuelans will vote in a presidential election on Sunday, with 61-year-old President Nicolas Maduro seeking his third term. His challenger, opposition candidate Edmundo Gonzalez, 74, has attracted significant support.
Here is a timeline of the events leading up to the closely watched vote.
2013
Nicolas Maduro, a former bus driver and the protege of President Hugo Chavez, takes power after Chavez dies from cancer. Maduro narrowly wins an election in which the opposition alleges irregularities.
2018
Maduro is elected to a second term in a vote boycotted by the mainstream opposition and considered fraudulent by the U.S. and others.
2019
Opposition lawmaker Juan Guaido invokes constitution to assume an interim presidency, winning international backing but little control over institutions.
2020
The U.S. offers to begin lifting sanctions if the opposition and members of Maduro’s Socialist Party form an interim government without Maduro.
2021
Talks open between Maduro’s government and the opposition led by Guaido, but make little progress.
2022
The government and opposition resume talks after more than a year, where they discuss presidential elections, the status of hundreds of political prisoners and U.S. sanctions on Venezuela.
Venezuela’s opposition national assembly dissolves Guaido’s interim government.
2023
June 23: Maria Corina Machado, a 56-year-old engineer and former lawmaker, registers to run in a primary contest as the candidate for Venezuela’s opposition coalition. She is considered one of the favorites.
June 30: Maduro’s government bars Machado from holding public office for 15 years, drawing international condemnation. It cites her support of U.S. sanctions and accuses her of being involved in corruption, which she denies.
Oct. 17: In Barbados, Maduro’s government and the opposition agree to guarantees for a 2024 election in exchange for limited U.S. sanctions relief. The deal does not lift bans on opposition candidates barred from public office.
Oct. 18: The U.S. eases some sanctions on Venezuela’s oil and gas industry and lifts restrictions on bond trading, giving Maduro until the end of November to begin rescinding bans on candidates and start releasing political prisoners and “wrongfully detained” Americans.
Oct. 19: Five people, including well-known opposition figures, are released from jail in Venezuela.
Oct. 22 – Machado wins opposition primary with over 90% of the more than 2.3 million votes cast.
Dec. 15 – Machado appeals her ban on holding office.
Dec. 20 – Ten Americans and 24 Venezuelans are freed in exchange for the U.S. release of a Maduro ally.
2024
Jan. 23 – The U.S. State Department expresses concern over the arrests of at least 33 Venezuelans, including opposition members.
Jan. 26 – Venezuela’s top court upholds Machado’s public office ban.
Jan. 29 – The U.S. begins reinstating sanctions and warns it could reverse its roll-back of restrictions on the oil industry.
March 16 – Maduro announces his candidacy for reelection.
March 22 – Machado names academic Corina Yoris as her successor, but Yoris is unable to register on the electoral council’s online system, leaving the coalition without a candidate.
March 26 – Gonzalez is registered as a placeholder candidate.
April 5 – Six Machado campaign staff members are given political asylum by Argentina, after warrants were issued for their arrest. They remain at Argentina’s embassy in Caracas.
April 17 – Washington reimposes broad oil sanctions, citing Maduro’s failure to comply with the electoral deal.
April 19 – Venezuela’s major opposition coalition backs Gonzalez.
May – Campaigning for her replacement, Machado draws large crowds across Venezuela.
May 28 – Maduro’s government revokes invitation to the EU to send election observers, citing continued EU sanctions.
July 17 – Machado’s security chief is arrested and released a day later. Overall, several dozen of Machado’s allies have been detained.
(Reporting by Caracas newsroom; Writing by Brendan O’Boyle; Editing by Rosalba O’Brien)
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