According to María Corina Machado, they must validate electoral processes in a system that, according to her, ignores the popular will.
María Corina Machado, the opposition leader of the current Venezuelan government, urged this Sunday to boycott the upcoming elections in Venezuela, after denouncing alleged fraud in the 2024 presidential elections.
Machado maintains that the real winner was Edmundo González Urrutia, an opponent exiled in Spainand stated that electoral processes should not be validated in a system that, according to her, ignores the popular will.
“The elections were on July 28, 2024. That day, the people chose. Until that result is recognized, it is meaningless. participate in more elections. Voting again and again without respecting the results is distorting the popular vote,” Machado declared in a video broadcast on social networks.
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The National Electoral Council (CNE) has not yet published a detailed count of the elections, while the opposition has shared copies of minutes on the internet that support González Urrutia’s victory.
Maduro, who assumed a third term on January 10, faces international complaints of electoral fraud and pressure to negotiate with opposition sectors.
Edmundo González Urrutiarecognized as “president-elect” by several international leaders, has received support from countries such as the United States, the European Union, Argentina, Uruguay and Costa Rica. He is currently on an international tour and will attend Donald Trump’s inauguration as president of the United States this Monday.
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International support for González Urrutia includes statements from both Trump and the outgoing Joe Biden, who have described him as the legitimate winner of the Venezuelan elections.
In response to political tensions, Nicolás Maduro called for military exercises for January 22 and 23, coinciding with the commemoration of the fall of the dictatorship of Marcos Pérez Jiménez in 1958. Under the name “Bolivarian Shield 2025”, these exercises seek to “defend borders, coasts and cities” with the deployment of military personnel, armored vehicles and heavy weapons.
The call coincides with a border crisis between Colombia and Venezuela, after a wave of violence attributed to the ELN that has displaced hundreds of families and left at least 80 dead in northern Colombia.
Machado, for his part, insisted on his call to the Armed Forces to ignore Maduro. “We civilians have done our part. Now you need to fulfill your duty,” he emphasized.
Finally, they indicated that the political scene in Venezuela remains polarized, with a government that seeks to consolidate its control and an opposition that demands respect for the electoral results.
Source: Integrated Information System
