María Corina Machado believes that greater US involvement is needed in resolving the crisis in Venezuela after Chavismo refused to recognize the opposition’s victory at the polls, which the majority of the international community believes was due to the concealment of proof of the results by the electoral authority. During an appearance held this Wednesday with foreign correspondents, the leader of the movement that has opposed Nicolás Maduro has asked President Joe Biden to lead the talks with the Venezuelan government to find a solution to this scenario of political and social conflict in which the country finds itself.
Machado, five weeks after the election, shows no signs of exhaustion. She says that she and her supporters will continue their fight to bring to light the results, which according to the minutes compiled by the opposition give a clear victory to the candidate who ran on Machado’s behalf, Edmundo González. International observers such as the Carter Center concluded that the vote count had been rigged. The citizen protest that followed after the National Electoral Center (CNE) refused to show the minutes for schools and voting centers – where the true result is reflected – has been responded to by the Government with a wave of repression that has led to more than 2,000 people being jailed on charges of “terrorism.”
Maria Corina has said that in Venezuela the game around an eventual transition to democracy, contrary to what some think, is still alive. She has said she is convinced that “the end of a cycle in Venezuelan history and politics” is approaching. “We are at a decisive moment,” she insisted. Without underestimating the gravity of the political moment, Machado says she is sure that time is working against Maduro, and that his margin for negotiation is narrowing.
“I am totally determined to continue in Venezuela,” she said. “It is time to call Edmundo González Urrutia president-elect, because that is what he is. What are we going to call him? Edmundo has won by a very wide margin, he won in all the states and in 90 percent of the municipalities in the country. Everyone knows what has happened in Venezuela. That is why they have unleashed the persecution against witnesses, activists and party members,” she added.
“A mechanism of simultaneous pressure must be activated, coordinated with intelligence and creativity. If there is no pressure, there is no negotiation. It is not necessary to call people to the streets at all times. The people have already expressed themselves. Create incentives for the regime to transition to democracy. The international community can do a lot to help us.” I am prepared to put maximum pressure on.
“We are not in a static or stopped situation: this is an ongoing process. It is not true that the regime has control of the situation. Obviously, there are things that people cannot see, but I can say that.” Machado has admitted to feeling scared, but much more optimistic than at the beginning. “We need more commitment from President Biden to the crisis in Venezuela. The Maduro regime has even kidnapped people I completely trust to put them in jail.”
This week, the arrest of opposition political and civil activists has seen a lull. The streets are more relaxed and with fewer police. The law to regulate NGOs has not been published in the Official Gazette, as planned. The pending parliamentary debates on the legal instruments to be approved against fascism (designed to finish sweeping away the current opposition) are on hold. After announcing the capture of González Urrutia, there has been a pause. The prosecutor Tarek William Saab has received José Vicente Haro, González Urrutia’s lawyer, to explain his positions and refute the official accusations. There seem to be conversations and movements behind the scenes.
The Supreme Court, a body controlled by Chavismo that Nicolás Maduro asked to conclude the final result, had summoned González Urrutia to appear. He did not do so. The Prosecutor’s Office, in the hands of a Chavista who was very close to Hugo Chávez, also summoned the candidate, who did not appear and sent his lawyer. A day after that meeting, Edmundo issued a statement in which he assures that the platform around which the opposition gathered almost en masse to support Machado did not usurp any authority of the CNE by publishing the minutes online, since the system has the obligation to deliver them to validate the decision of the Venezuelan people.
He then argues that his appearance before the Prosecutor’s Office would only serve to “further intensify social tension, in addition to consolidating a context of incriminating judicialization.” He says that government officials have made public statements these weeks that condemn him “in advance.” The candidate speaks directly to the Attorney General, Tarek William Saab: “Let’s broaden the field of democratic politics, not narrow it through criminal judicialization.” There is an arrest warrant issued against Edmundo by a Venezuelan judge.
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