Macron Deems Sidelining of Venezuela Opposition Coalition as Shift towards Authoritarianism

The Venezuelan Supreme Court has barred the opposition coalition from upcoming presidential polls. (Reuters)
The Venezuelan Supreme Court has barred the opposition coalition from upcoming presidential polls. (Reuters)
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Macron Deems Sidelining of Venezuela Opposition Coalition as Shift towards Authoritarianism

The Venezuelan Supreme Court has barred the opposition coalition from upcoming presidential polls. (Reuters)
The Venezuelan Supreme Court has barred the opposition coalition from upcoming presidential polls. (Reuters)

French President Emmanuel Macron condemned on Friday Venezuelan authorities’ decision to sideline the country’s opposition coalition from upcoming presidential elections.

He said that the move was an “unacceptable shift to authoritarianism.”

Late on Thursday, the Supreme Court, which is close to President Nicolas Maduro, moved to exclude the coalition from registering in the vote placed yet another obstacle ahead of the already disparate opposition.

The vote is due by April 30, however, the opposition’s most popular leaders, Leopoldo Lopez and Henrique Capriles, are already banned from standing.

The coalition condemned the move as trickery by Maduro’s administration to rig the vote in its favor.

Critics say Maduro is depriving Venezuelans of a free and fair election during an unprecedented economic implosion.

“This demonstrates the fear felt by Maduro of the people,” opposition lawmaker Stalin Gonzalez said on Thursday.

International pressure is also piling on the government. The United States said this week that the vote will “deepen, not help resolve, national tensions,” and Vice President Mike Pence called Maduro a “dictator.”

It said it will not recognize the results of Venezuela's "snap" presidential election if it is held.

State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert said the vote would be "neither free nor fair."

Thursday’s ruling said the coalition violated the principle of avoiding “double affiliation” in politics and therefore could not be validated.

Critics see that as baseless, and the opposition is discussing its next move.

“If the opposition opts to participate, it risks legitimizing (an election) process that has already been questioned by the international community,” said IHS analyst Diego Moya-Ocampos.

“However, if the opposition chooses not to contest the elections, Maduro will be enabled to straightforwardly extend his mandate for a new six-year presidential term.”

Two senior State Department officials said all economic tools are available to the US to increase the pressure on Venezuela. They added new sanctions are "always" on the table.

The officials revealed there is evidence that current sanctions are working, but they declined to provide any examples.



Iran Says it Would Resume Nuclear Talks with US if Guaranteed No Further Attacks

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi attends a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin at the Kremlin in Moscow, Russia June 23, 2025. Sputnik/Sergei Karpukhin/Pool via REUTERS/File Photo
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi attends a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin at the Kremlin in Moscow, Russia June 23, 2025. Sputnik/Sergei Karpukhin/Pool via REUTERS/File Photo
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Iran Says it Would Resume Nuclear Talks with US if Guaranteed No Further Attacks

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi attends a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin at the Kremlin in Moscow, Russia June 23, 2025. Sputnik/Sergei Karpukhin/Pool via REUTERS/File Photo
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi attends a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin at the Kremlin in Moscow, Russia June 23, 2025. Sputnik/Sergei Karpukhin/Pool via REUTERS/File Photo

Iran’s foreign minister said Saturday that his country would accept a resumption of nuclear talks with the US if there were assurances of no more attacks against it, state media reported.

Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said in a speech to Tehran-based foreign diplomats that Iran has always been ready and will be ready in the future for talks about its nuclear program, but, “assurance should be provided that in case of a resumption of talks, the trend will not lead to war.”

Referring to the 12-day Israeli bombardment of Iran's nuclear and military sites, and the US strike on June 22, Araghchi said that if the US and others wish to resume talks with Iran, "first of all, there should be a firm guarantee that such actions will not be repeated. The attack on Iran's nuclear facilities has made it more difficult and complicated to achieve a solution based on negotiations.”

Following the strikes, Iran suspended cooperation with the UN nuclear watchdog, which led to the departure of inspectors.

Araghchi said that under Iranian law, the country will answer the agency’s request for cooperation "case by case,” based on Iran’s interests. He also said any inspection by the agency should be done based on Iran's “security” concerns as well as the safety of the inspectors. “The risk of proliferation of radioactive ingredients and an explosion of ammunition that remains from the war in the attacked nuclear sites is serious,” he said.

"The risk of spreading radioactive materials and the risk of exploding leftover munitions ... are serious," he added.

"For us, IAEA inspectors approaching nuclear sites has both a security aspect ... and the safety of the inspectors themselves is a matter that must be examined."

He also reiterated Iran's position on the need to continue enriching uranium on its soil. US President Donald Trump has insisted that cannot happen.

Israel claims it acted because Tehran was within reach of a nuclear weapon. US intelligence agencies and the International Atomic Energy Agency had assessed Iran last had an organized nuclear weapons program in 2003, though Tehran had been enriching uranium up to 60% — a short, technical step away from weapons-grade levels of 90%.

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian in an interview published Monday said the US airstrikes so badly damaged his country’s nuclear facilities that Iranian authorities still have not been able to access them to survey the destruction.