Venezuela opposition leader Capriles says banned from political office for 15 years

Record ID: 559808

  • Title: Venezuela opposition leader Capriles says banned from political office for 15 years
  • Date: 7th April 2017
  • Summary: CAPRILES ON-STAGE GREETING HIS SUPPORTERS
  • Embargoed: 21st April 2017 18:13
  • Keywords: Henrique Capriles opposition opposition leader Nicolas Maduro recall referendum presidential election 2013
  • Location: CARACAS AND SANTA ELENA DE GUAIREN-EDO, BOLIVIAR, VENEZUELA
  • City: CARACAS AND SANTA ELENA DE GUAIREN-EDO, BOLIVIAR, VENEZUELA
  • Country: Venezuela
  • Topics: Government/Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVA0046BFI5OJ
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: Venezuelan opposition leader Henrique Capriles said on Friday (April 7) he has been notified he will be banned from holding political office for 15 years, amid what critics say is a crackdown on dissent by the leftist government of Nicolas Maduro.
    The 44-year-old former governor of Miranda state lost the 2013 presidential election to Maduro by 1.5 percent of the vote. Capriles challenged the results and called for an audit but the election board turned down his request.
    Since then, the 44-year-old has been at the forefront of efforts calling for a recall referendum on the unpopular Socialist president who the opposition blames for bankrupting the OPEC nation that has the highest inflation rate in the world, dramatic shortages of food and medicine and very high crime rates.
    The protégé of populist former President Hugo Chavez, the 50-year-old Maduro says local opponents, backed by the United States and cheered by compliant foreign media, are deliberately "sabotaging" the economy in an attempt to bring down his government.
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