SAN LUIS POTOSÍ, Mexico.- The Venezuelan opposition leader, Maria Corina Machadosaid in an interview that current ruler Nicolás Maduro has resorted to violence against his political rivals as a last resort, after having lost credibility.
“Maduro has made violence his campaign, it is the only thing he has left, that is to say, his support base has completely dissolved for months now and even middle-level cadres and factions are beginning to fracture and continue to insist on this type of practice that rather generates a total rejection from the population, nobody believes them anymore,” he said in an interview granted to journalist Fernando del Rincón for the space Conclusions, from CNN.
The opponent, inabilited The Venezuelan government has refused to allow the people to participate in the electoral contest, and he said that society has suffered irreparable losses but at the same time has strengthened its convictions. “We managed to tear down the barriers that the Chavez regime first and then Maduro had built to separate us and I feel that never before has there been a social movement that goes far beyond an electoral dynamic that unites us, that encourages us and that has made us commit to a cause of redemption for liberation.”
Machado, who supports the campaign of the candidate of the main opposition coalition, the Democratic Unitary Platform (PUD), Edmundo González Urrutia, was recently the victim of an attack.
She discovered that the brakes on her vehicle were cut at an event that took place in Barquisimeto, Lara state, and claimed that agents of the Chavista regime have been following and harassing her.
“I certainly believe that they crossed a red line. Verbal aggression, persecution or threats are one thing, and actually committing an attack is another. Now I believe that the regime is making mistakes and is, in addition, deepening and reinforcing them,” he said in the interview.
A total change
The opposition leader said the change was complete and that former allies of Maduro no longer even supported his government.
“I believe that these actions, creating conspiracies, threatening violence and chaos, are more oriented towards the international community, which in some sectors might be hoping for a certain stability in Venezuela, but it is not working for them either, because it has become clear that this regime is chaos and the only way to reduce migration, or even reverse it, is to have a future in Venezuela of prosperity, peace and freedom so that those who have left can return,” he said.
Machado is aware that the struggle is “asymmetrical.” Maduro’s forces resort to “all kinds of violence” (aggression, disqualification, kidnapping, torture, blocking of mobility).
In this regard, he explained that they cannot rent a truck, a room in a hotel, or even buy breakfast on the road because the shops are closed.
“Those who provide these services are arrested, they even arrested a musician for posting a song on his social media. In other words, it is an unleashed regime and a National Electoral Council that is absolutely subservient.”
However, in the midst of this situation, he said that a social movement has emerged “that comes from the depths of our country, a movement that has managed to unite the whole world.”
Despite the obstacles, his campaign rallies are packed because this is, he stressed, “the last chance to reunite the family.”
A possible fraud by Maduro
Looking ahead to the upcoming presidential elections on July 28, Machado does not rule out the possibility that Maduro’s forces will resort to fraud to win and threaten a civil war.
However, the opposition member acknowledged that there can be no talk of civil war when they have been able to unite society.
“They may try to commit fraud, of course, and threaten us with violence, they do it every day, but in the end they talk about civil war. And for there to be a war there has to be an enemy, and there are no enemies here. We have managed to unite the country in a desire for change and bring our children to a country where we can live with dignity and in peace,” he said.
In his speech, he stressed that the regime has already been defeated and is aware that its foundations have been destabilized.
“People from different sectors and pillars that have supported this system approach us asking, inquiring about what the transition process would be like and how they would be left after this transition process. In other words, we have already defeated this regime, we have defeated it morally, spiritually and in the streets. We just need to finish this off on election day and believe me, what the world is going to see is going to be a truly epic feat where the citizens are the heroes of what is happening and what is going to happen.”
A transition in Venezuela
He alluded to the fact that, after an alleged victory by Edmundo González, “the most complex and delicate transition that has ever occurred in the history of this hemisphere” will take place.
After having lost institutions and having reached a crisis of sovereignty, security, public services, finance, economic, social, and humanitarian issues, they will have to “rebuild the country.”
“Venezuela is in ruins and there are of course armed groups, affiliated with or financed by the regime, that will try to prevent this process from moving forward. But at the same time, what is being generated is an illusion, such great emotion around the people who have great expectations and who will be expecting changes and results in the short term,” he said.
Machado won the opposition primaries last year, but was disqualified from running in January. Machado backs former ambassador Edmundo González Urrutia, Maduro’s main rival and the unified candidate of the largest opposition coalition in Venezuela.
Follow our channel WhatsApp. Receive the information from CubaNet on your cell phone through Telegram.
