María Corina Machado: “What does Maduro have today? 90% of a country is against it, a country that wants change”

  • Sep, Sat, 2024
  • ICTS


María Corina Machado led the electoral campaign that she claims led to the “overwhelming beating” of the opposition, although the electoral authority proclaimed Maduro the winner for a third consecutive six-year term. “No one has any doubt that Edmundo González won,” says the leader. 56 years old, dressed in a pristine white shirt. “The regime is absolutely delegitimized, it is an international pariah.” “This is an unsustainable situation,” he continues. “Maduro tries to convey to his people who are left, by enduring it, that this is stable, that the world is going to turn the page and that we Venezuelans are going to keep quiet,” he says.

But “that’s not going to happen. This system is unviable financially, diplomatically and most importantly, socially,” he says.

«What does Maduro have today? 90% of a country against it, 90% of a country that wants a change,” insists Machado. “The only thing left is violence and sowing terror,” he adds.

However, two months before the elections, María Corina Machado calls for small demonstrations on Saturday, despite fear of new arrests. «It is not a rally with 50,000 people, it is 1,000 assemblies with 50 each. “It is very powerful,” he explains.

For María Corina Machado it is a huge change and a personal challenge

The result of the National Electoral Council (CNE) – 52% for Maduro – was validated by the Supreme Court of Justice (TSJ), both accused of serving the ruler. The opposition, for its part, hides behind copies of 80% of the voting records that it claims demonstrate the victory of González Urrutia, who replaced Machado after his disqualification.

The situation of the opposition, however, is precarious. González Urrutia went into exile in Spain on September 8 and Machado remains in hiding, which he has interrupted on rare occasions to participate in demonstrations.

“It is a huge change and a great personal challenge,” he confesses. “There were many months in contact with thousands of people all the time, listening, hugging, kissing and suddenly not having direct contact for weeks,” he adds.

Dozens of opposition leaders were also arrested, joining the more than 2,400 detained and accused of terrorism for their participation in the protests that broke out after the results were announced, being harshly repressed by law enforcement.

Celebrate international support

The opposition leader celebrates the international support her cause has received. It stands out that allied countries such as Brazil, Colombia or Mexico have not recognized Maduro’s victory, and the speeches of several leaders about Venezuela at the United Nations General Assembly.

“It is very important,” he highlights. “We saw a level of total support, of total alignment,” he says.

The support received from the United States, the European Union, and the G7 also stands out. «It is not only the issue of demanding that repression stop and that there be respect for the popular will. These countries directly speak of a transition to democracy.

«When is Maduro going to have real incentives to sit down and negotiate a transition? The day the cost of staying in power is greater than the cost of leaving power. So we have to lower the cost of leaving power, raise the cost of clinging to power, and that is exactly what we are doing,” he says.

It does not delve into the guarantees it would offer to the government and its “repressive arm”, which includes the justice system and the military forces, which time and again have sworn “absolute loyalty” to Maduro.

“It is a process that is underway and no one can say how long it will last,” he adds.

Venezuelans protested elections in Mexico Venezuela

Venezuelan citizens participate in a demonstration rejecting the results of the elections held on July 28, on the esplanade of the Monument to the Revolution in Mexico City Photo: EFE/ Mario Guzmán

Alert of the risk of a new wave of migration

María Corina Machado warns of the risk of a new wave of migration. “Maduro wants millions of Venezuelans to leave,” he highlights. “We are in time to prevent the largest and most painful wave of migration in this entire hemisphere,” he adds.

According to the UN, about 8 million of the 30 million Venezuelans have fled the crisis since 2014. In the campaign, Machado insisted on the risk that another 5 million would flee if Maduro remained in power.

“Some people can’t wait,” he laments. «It is not an issue that they believe that there will be no change, but perhaps they cannot wait as long as it takes. When you are hungry, when you cannot enroll your child in school, when you cannot pay for medicine… you cannot expect these processes to be consolidated,” he says.

However, he is optimistic: on January 10, the day of the inauguration in Venezuela, “Edmundo González Urrutia must be sworn in as president” and rules out symbolic ceremonies abroad: “That does not exist, he will be sworn in in Venezuela” .

And Machado, have you considered exile? “I am where I feel most useful for the struggle, in Venezuela,” he maintains. “I am here accompanying the Venezuelans as a fight that continues, which is much bigger than any of us,” he concludes.





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