Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado on Friday (6) called on President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva to “raise his voice” against the repression intensified by Nicolás Maduro’s dictatorship after electoral fraud in the neighboring country.
“We need the international community, especially Brazil and President Lula, to raise their voices so that the repression ends,” said Machado, in an interview with journalist Andréia Sadi and the program Estúdio i, on GloboNews.
“Today in Venezuela, we are all afraid, not only of losing our freedom, but also our lives,” the opposition leader said. “But I have a commitment to the people of Venezuela and I will not abandon it.”
More than 2,400 people were arrested and at least 27 were killed in the Chavista crackdown on protests contesting electoral fraud in Venezuela.
Machado argued that increased international pressure would make it impossible for Maduro to remain in power. “Maduro cannot remain without legitimacy, without support, without the possibility of obtaining financing, without international recognition,” he argued.
Last Monday (2), the Venezuelan Justice, subservient to Chavismo, issued an arrest warrant against Edmundo González, candidate of Machado’s bloc in the presidential election of July 28.
The order was issued because González failed to comply with three subpoenas to testify as part of an investigation into who is responsible for an opposition website that posted more than 80% of the voting records, proving that the opposition candidate won the election – contrary to the official results from the Chavista National Electoral Council (CNE), which gave victory to Maduro. The arrest warrant has not yet been served.
Lula has been demanding that the official voting records be released. On Friday, the president said that Brazil and Colombia do not accept the results of the elections in Venezuela, “but will not break off relations” with Caracas, and also criticized the sanctions against the Chavista regime.
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