VENEZUELA’S SUPREME court has voted to uphold a ban on a leading opponent of President Hugo Chávez holding public office, throwing into doubt his plans to run in next year’s presidential elections.
The court on Monday said a demand by the Inter-American Court of Human Rights that Leopoldo López have his full political rights restored was “infeasible”.
Defending the ruling, Venezuela’s general prosecutor, Carlos Escarrá, said that while the country was “respectful” of international treaties “there cannot exist any decision that goes against the constitution”.
A charismatic member of the country’s elite, Mr López is one of three candidates contesting the opposition’s primary, which will be held in February. In 2008, an anti-corruption official suspended him from holding office until 2014 following accusations of wrongdoing.
Among the charges levelled against Mr López is that, in the 1990s, a non-profit group he ran received donations from the country’s state oil company where his mother worked. She signed at least one of the cheques he received. He denies any wrongdoing and has never been brought to trial.
The original imposition of the ban prevented him for running to be mayor of Caracas, a race he was tipped to win. In recent years, dozens of opposition politicians have had similar bans imposed leading to claims the Chávez administration is undermining Venezuelan democracy.
The umbrella opposition group Democratic Unity said the fact the supreme court’s sentence only confirmed statements by Mr Chávez and several ministers that Mr López would not be allowed to run was “another shameful demonstration” of political interference in public institutions.
After years of infighting and missteps, Venezuela’s opposition is working hard to present a united front in next year’s election in which it hopes to capitalise on an increasingly chaotic economy and rising crime which have caused Mr Chávez’s support to slip in opinion polls.
Mr Chávez returned to Cuba on Sunday for further medical tests in his battle against an unspecified cancer. Since an operation in June to remove a tumour, he has undergone four rounds of chemotherapy.
In an interview with a Mexican newspaper, the president’s former personal physician said the cancer was more serious than has been reported and gave Mr Chávez two years to live.
After almost a decade looking after the president’s health, Salvador Navarrete was fired earlier this year. Since then, Cuban doctors have been responsible for the president’s health.