The Nobel Peace Prize winner did not give relevance to the fact that the president of the United States had omitted her name. He did not rule out a negotiation scenario with the Chavista government, as long as the will of the people expressed in the elections of June 28, 2024 is respected. He said that the main person responsible for the deaths of alleged drug traffickers in the Caribbean is Nicolás Maduro himself and revealed that in hiding she has learned to cook, clean and even cut her hair herself.
In her first interview with the Venezuelan media, after being awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, opposition leader María Corina Machado said in The Conversation of the Rebel Alliance Investigates (ARI), which does not care that the president of the United States does not know her, in relation to a statement in which the president said he did not know who she was. “The important thing at this moment is that Donald Trump already knows who Nicolás Maduro is,” he said.
In the space of Runrunes, The Pitazo and SuchWhichMachado asserted that the US president is clear about the situation that Venezuela is going through.
“Maduro has declared war on Venezuelans by applying state terrorism and now using drug cartels,” said the opposition leader in the program that was hosted by Ronna Rísquez, director of ARI; Victor Amaya, director of SuchWhich and César Batiz, director of The Pitazo.
The founder of Vente Venezuela reiterated that the Nobel Peace Prize is not a prize for her, but for the entire country. “This is an award that recognizes the fight for freedom, we are clear that there is no possibility of real peace if there is no democracy and that implies the need to constitute an internal force in coordination with international actors that share our democratic values,” he said.
In Machado’s opinion, Maduro has completely lost confidence in the National Armed Forces (FAN).
“The sectors of the population that are most monitored are the civil and military intelligence bodies and this was evidenced by their behavior in the vote on July 28, 2024. Internal tension is beginning to generate in the FAN because mothers and wives ask the military if they are willing to immolate themselves for Maduro.”
In the interview, which lasted just under an hour, Machado warned that her designation as winner of the Nobel Peace Prize has raised the volume on the cost of repression for Maduro and his circle. This added to the reports of the Fact-Finding Mission on Venezuela of the United Nations (UN) and the investigation that continues in the International Criminal Court (ICC) on possible crimes against humanity.
However, he did not rule out that the Maduro administration would increase oppression against civil society if they see themselves surrounded: “They are criminals who have no scruples, they can do crazy things, these people are capable of anything.”
Machado explained that the increase in the number of arrests in recent weeks is due to the fact that the Maduro government realized that society found different ways to organize itself.
He doesn’t rule out negotiating, but…
With the sole purpose of achieving a transition to democracy, Machado did not refuse an eventual negotiation with the Maduro government, as long as the popular decision of the elections of June 28, 2024 is respected.
“Even the bloodiest wars end with some type of agreement, but every transition implies recognizing the mandate of the people.”
For Machado, a transition does not necessarily lead to collective chaos. “Chaos is what we have today with half the country without electricity, in terms of public health, children who go to school two days a week and more than half of the territory in the hands of criminal groups,” he explained.
Batiz asked the Nobel Peace Prize winner about offer by the president of Brazil, Luiz Inácio “Lula” Da Silva, to serve as a mediator between Chavismo and the opposition that she and Edmundo González Urrutia represent.
In his opinion, it is surprising that after more than a year since 28J, the Brazilian president is still considering these types of alternatives.
“If with five hostages in the Argentine embassy in Caracas, under Brazilian custody, he could not obtain safe passage or guarantee electricity and water service, I don’t know what he can do now.”
Regarding a possible privatization of Petróleos de Venezuela SA (Pdvsa), Machado explained that the state company is in debt and is linked to criminal activities. “There are many companies that are bankrupt and can be privatized. The space must be opened to internal and foreign investments in a transparent and rigorous manner.”
The head of Vente Venezuela asserted that it is also imperative to settle the labor debt with PDVSA employees and former workers: “The priority is the people, public goods have to be available to all citizens.”
Regarding his recent communication with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who is under an ICC arrest warrant for alleged crimes against humanity, Machado said that he maintains contact with various world leaders and especially with those who know how criminal structures such as Hezbollah and Hamas operate, with alleged operations within Venezuelan territory.
*Read also: La Conversa | Paparoni: “Almost 25% of Hezbollah’s financing comes from Latin America”
He accused Maduro of being responsible for deaths in the Caribbean
Rísquez asked Machado about the veracity of information revealed by the Reuters agency, which states that people close to him lobbied the White House for the United States to declare the Tren de Aragua and the Cartel de los Soles as international criminal organizations.
Machado responded that the Trump administration does not need to receive alleged pressure from members of his staff to reach this conclusion.
“They have enough information to create their own opinion about the magnitude of Maduro’s link with these groups.”
In reference to the question about US anti-drug operations in the Caribbean, which have cost the lives of more than 40 people, he maintained that the only person to blame for this situation is Maduro and his entourage.
He repudiated the death of human beings, but warned that the Maduro administration has been warned about the consequences of maintaining the flows not only of drug trafficking, but of gold, weapons, oil and even people.
“These are autonomous policies that we have nothing to do with,” he said of the Trump administration’s actions.
At the same time, he explained that they have requested that the information about the sinking of “narco-boats” with kinetic attacks be made public, as well as the course of the investigations against the alleged perpetrators.
Machado assured that although year-on-year inflation is estimated at 500%, the economic issue has not yet displaced the political issue.
“Because an eventual economic improvement requires a change of government, we have enormous challenges and for this we count on the police, the FAN and public employees. I ask them not to desert and to stay in their strategic positions, of course taking care of themselves, when the time comes we will need them.”
For Machado, the transition has already begun and is irreversible.
“It is something that we have learned to handle with serenity, there are many years of struggle and monumental losses. People ask me where to start. Light, water, health, education? There is not a single institution left standing and that creates gigantic challenges for us.”
Machado assured that during the 15 months she has spent in hiding she has found herself, not only on the spiritual plane, but also on the earthly level.
“I cook, clean and make the terrible bed (laughs). I have had to learn to cut my hair myself. I have learned a lot from this time in solitude, but I have realized that I am not alone, I tell my children that we have never been so close, as well as with the rest of the Venezuelans. This is in a countdown stage.”
Regarding Amaya’s question about the meaning of peace, Machado responded that it represents “coexistence under justice and freedom. Peace with fear is submission, peace with silence is slavery.”
*Journalism in Venezuela is carried out in a hostile environment for the press with dozens of legal instruments in place to punish the word, especially the laws “against hate”, “against fascism” and “against the blockade.” This content was written taking into consideration the threats and limits that, consequently, have been imposed on the dissemination of information from within the country.
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