The president of Ecuador, Daniel Noboa, emphasized on Tuesday that Ecuador will refuse to acknowledge the outcome of Venezuela’s upcoming elections following the disqualification of opposition presidential candidate, María Corina Machado, by the Supreme Court of Justice (TSJ). However, Noboa clarified that this stance does not imply a non-recognition of President Nicolás Maduro’s government or a rupture in relations between the two countries.

This announcement comes in the wake of the Ecuadorian Minister of Foreign Affairs, Gabriela Sommerfeld, stating in an interview with the NTN24 network that “Ecuador does not recognize the Maduro government” and that Quito will limit its engagement with Venezuela until free and fair elections are held in the neighboring Latin American nation.

On January 26, the Venezuelan Supreme Court upheld the 15-year disqualification of Machado, effectively barring her from holding public office and running in the 2024 presidential elections. In response, Machado accused the government of attempting to undermine the Barbados agreements, which called for the realization of free and fair elections.

In reaction to these developments, the United States has announced the reinstatement of sanctions against Venezuela’s state-owned General Mining Company. These sanctions were previously lifted in October, as a gesture of recognition towards the Venezuelan government’s democratic progress, but have now been reintroduced.