MIAMI, United States. – Opposition leader María Corina Machado advertisement this Friday that the elected president of the country, Edmundo González Urrutia, will not return to the national territory “for the moment”, due to the increase in government repression.
The opposition leader addressed the nation through her social networks, shortly after noon this Friday.
“Edmundo will come to Venezuela to be sworn in as constitutional president at the right time, when the conditions are right,” said the leader, who emphasized that “in its delirious paranoia the regime [de Nicolás Maduro] “Not only has it closed Venezuela’s airspace, but it has activated the entire air defense system.”
Machado, who briefly came out of hiding this Thursday to lead the opposition demonstration in Caracas, explained that González Urrutia’s safety is a priority to promote the political transition: “We decided that it is not convenient for Edmundo to enter Venezuela today. “I have asked him not to do it because his integrity is fundamental for the final defeat of the regime and the transition to democracy, which is very close,” he assured.
The situation in the country has become even more tense since the criticized swearing-in of Nicolás Maduroin the early hours of this Friday morning. Machado warned that “Maduro will not be able to govern by force a Venezuela that decided to be free” and stressed that, despite the repression, Venezuelans have lost fear: “Yesterday we showed that we are not afraid and I know that each time we will be many more on the streets of Venezuela and the world,” he said.
The opposition leader also referred to the increase in security operations and denounced arbitrary arrests after the protests: “We all know that starting today [10 de enero] He will increase the pressure until he makes Maduro understand that this is over. Yesterday the regime deployed brutal repression, persecuting and detaining more than 20 Venezuelans (…). They are our heroes and we are going to free them all,” he said.
For his part, González Urrutia concluded his tour of the United States and Latin America this Thursday in the Dominican Republic. “We have been in permanent communication during his extraordinary tour of nations in our hemisphere where he has been received with the honors of head of state,” said María Corina Machado, who also insisted that the conditions will be met “in the near future.” so that the politician returns to Venezuela and is sworn in before the legitimate institutions.
At another point in his speech, Machado referred to the arrest he suffered this Thursday when leaving the opposition demonstration in Chacao, in Caracas, and assured that he was “fine,” although he has “strong pain and bruises” on his body. The opposition leader stated that, when she was leaving the protest site on a motorcycle, she was intercepted by “armed members of the Bolivarian National Police” who were carrying “long weapons.”
“I was abruptly pulled off the motorcycle and [los efectivos de la Policía] They put me on another, in the middle of two men. “That’s how they are: they attack a woman from behind,” said the opponent. “Suddenly they stopped and told me that they had orders for me to leave,” he added.
According to Machado, this fact “demonstrates the deep contradictions that exist within the regime.” “Their erratic actions are yet another demonstration of how they are divided inside,” he said.
