2 anti-Chavez politicians barred from office in Venezuela, blocking them from congress races

2 Chavez opponents barred from office in Venezuela

CARACAS, Venezuela — Venezuela’s top anti-corruption official on Tuesday barred two opponents of President Hugo Chavez from holding public office, preventing them from running in September legislative elections.

The decision by Comptroller General Clodosbaldo Russian, a Chavez ally, blocks candidacies by former presidential candidate Manuel Rosales and former Sucre state Gov. Ramon Martinez.

The two had been on the opposition’s list of candidates for the National Assembly elections.

Russian accused the two of irregularities during their tenures as public officials. His ruling, which was published Tuesday in the Official Gazette, bars Martinez from holding office for eight months and Rosales for one year.

Rosales, a former governor of western Zulia state and mayor of Maracaibo, fled to Peru and obtained asylum last year after Venezuelan prosecutors accused him of pocketing public funds. He calls the case against him politically motivated.

The opposition’s Democratic Unity coalition condemned the blacklisting of the two politicians as “unconstitutional, illegal and unfair.”