Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado sent a message of encouragement and inspiration to her followers on social media on Tuesday, at a time of political paralysis and confusion following the post-electoral crisis and the wave of repression unleashed by the government of Nicolás Maduro. In the video, Machado claims the “resounding” electoral victory of Edmundo González Urrutia despite the fact that the government declared Maduro the winner and announced the arrival of “a new stage in the struggle” to make it count.
The leader reviewed the entire civic journey made by the opposition movements during all these months, from the time of organizing the primary elections until now, and congratulated the citizens for the achievements obtained and the current status of the anti-Chavez opposition, which politically remains, for the first time in many years, very good.
“We have overcome, one by one, all the obstacles that have been presented to us. We have challenged the forces of evil. We have awakened a country that had been disappointed. We have united a nation around common values: family, decent work, dignity, love. The world did not believe in us, and now it admires our efforts. We came to the elections with a candidate, and without the regime detecting it, we set up a formidable structure for the defense of the vote, the 600K platform, with which we base our victory and we can demonstrate it wherever we are.”
In the video, Machado’s voice can be heard over a photo of him at one of the marches called after the election. It is a way of confirming that he remains in semi-clandestine, just one day after the Venezuelan Attorney General’s Office, controlled by Chavismo, opened a criminal investigation against Machado and Gutiérrez Urrutia following the statement in which they asked the military to stop repressing and which the candidate signed as “president-elect of Venezuela.”
One week after the election, and without the electoral body having yet made transparent the results that declared Maduro the winner, uncertainty is total in Venezuela. The future of the negotiations led by the three leftist powers of Latin America is unknown. Meanwhile, the regime insists on the persecution of critics and those who participated in the protests after the elections as well as those who played a role in protecting the records that the opposition has used to prove González Urrutia’s victory. Machado, in the video, has declared that a new stage is opening – without adding much more about it – and made a proposal to strengthen the commitment of citizens to the cause of public freedoms. “Nobody said that this would be easy. But let the world be clear: there is no turning back. This process is irreversible, and it is until the end.”
Machado’s message is another challenge to the government, headed by Nicolás Maduro, who is particularly fearsome these days. In order to enforce his narrative, he has unleashed a deep and wide-ranging repressive process, with massive express arrests, in which, technically, constitutional guarantees have been suspended.
Maduro has justified his decisions “to definitively eradicate fascism and guarantee the peace that Venezuelans want” and he continually broadcasts the television signal, always claiming the constitutional nature of his re-election, and denouncing conspiracies in development against his government and his followers.
On Monday, Maduro asked his followers to “progressively, radically and voluntarily” abandon the WhatsApp messaging system, which he accuses of orchestrating attacks against Chavista leaders and activists. “WhatsApp handed over the list of all of Venezuela to technological imperialism, to drug trafficking, to attack the Venezuelan family: WhatsApp: go to hell!” he concluded at a rally before his followers.
“They want to intimidate us so that we do not communicate, because isolated we would be much weaker. That will not happen. We will always be in communication, organized and active. We will all take care of each other. Fear will not paralyze us, and we will not leave the streets,” Machado added in this message, in apparent response to Maduro’s threats.
“No one in this citizen movement that has united millions inside and outside the country can abandon the fight,” said Machado, trying to combat the uncertainty and despondency of the citizens in these days. “We are all necessary, wherever we are, and we have a role to play, in this stage, and in those that come after.”
Machado asked his followers for “unity and firmness,” “perseverance and resilience,” which, he explained, “does not mean always being on the streets,” and finally, “trust and faith.”
Justifying the current circumstances, Machado added: “Each stage in this fight has its development over time. There are times to go out, and times to organize, communicate and prepare, with the help of our allies around the world, which are many. We will overcome and reverse any present obstacle.” He also added that “an operational pause is sometimes necessary, waiting for all the elements to be aligned and ready to take the next step.”
Follow all the information from El PAÍS América on Facebook and Xor in our weekly newsletter.
#María #Corina #Machado #asks #followers #perseverance #resilience #intimidate #isolated #weaker