The Venezuelan presidential candidate stated that Lula has the potential to lead a democratic resolution in the country, if he stops “giving approval” to Maduro
María Corina Machado, former Venezuelan deputy and Nicolás Maduro's main political opponent in this year's elections, said that the president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT) needs to have a firm stance in relation to the Venezuelan. The statement was given to the magazine Look in an interview published this Friday (15th March).
In June 2023, Machado was prevented by the country's courts from holding public office for the next 15 years, which, in practice, makes his candidacy for President impossible. For Venezuela's Supreme Court of Justice – which is aligned with Chavismo, Maduro's political movement –, Corina would have participated in a “corruption plot”.
A Look, Corina said he believes that President Lula has the potential to lead negotiations between Maduro and the Venezuelan opposition. The former deputy stated that dialogue between presidents can serve as a “lever for the democratic process”.
The former deputy also commented again on Lula's speech at the beginning of March about the opposition in Venezuela. On the occasion, the Brazilian president was questioned by journalists about the sanctions applied by the courts in the neighboring country and said that, when he was prevented from running in 2018, he did not “cry” and nominated another candidate.
“The problem is not my name. If they put someone else in their place, the regime will find a way to prevent the candidacy.”, Corina told Veja. The candidate defined the government's hostility towards the opposition as “persecution”. She says that 4 members of her team were kidnapped by the country's secret service, and the whereabouts of none of them are known.
The speech represents a cooling in tone in relation to the Brazilian president. She had already spoken out about the episode before, on March 6, when she insinuated that Lula's speech had a sexist content. “Me crying, President Lula? Are you saying this because I'm a woman? You do not know me”, he said politics on your profile on X (formerly Twitter).
When asked about the difference between her campaign and Juan Guiadó, who tried to overthrow Maduro in 2019, Corina stated that the former deputy failed due to a lack of common projects with his allies. She said her situation is different: she is well supported by opposition parties, who have unified to support her candidacy for president.
The former congresswoman, who is in favor of US sanctions on Venezuela, also stated that both the US and Colombian governments can be good intermediaries to negotiate a democratic resolution in the country.
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