CARACAS, March 12, 2024 (BSS/AFP) - Venezuela's President Nicolas Maduro has been selected to seek a third, successive term in July 28 elections, a senior ruling party official said Monday.
 
   A vote by the PSUV party concluded that Maduro would be its presidential candidate, Diosdado Cabello, considered the number 2 in the ruling "Chavismo" movement, wrote on X.
 
   Maduro, 61, has not made any announcement himself, but has been widely expected to seek reelection in a vote from which his main challenger has been precluded from running.
 
   The president's re-election to a six-year term in 2018 -- widely considered fraudulent -- was not recognized by the United States and dozens of other countries, and was met with a string of sanctions.
 
   Last week, Venezuela's electoral authority CNE announced elections will be held on July 28 in the South American country which is in dire economic straits.
 
   That came after Maduro's government and the opposition agreed in Barbados last year to hold a free and fair vote in 2024 with international observers present.
 
   The deal saw the United States ease sanctions against the oil-rich South American country, allowing US-based Chevron to resume limited crude extraction and leading to a prisoner swap.
 
   The agreement required that opposition candidates be allowed to appeal court rulings disqualifying them from holding office.
 
   Since then, however, the Supreme Court loyal to Maduro upheld a 15-year ban on opposition primary winner Maria Corina Machado and others, prompting Washington to consider reimposing sanctions.