The Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado has assured that the president of Venezuela, Nicolás Maduro, can only remain in power “by force” because he “does not have” the votes to win the presidential elections in which the main opposition candidate , Edmundo González, will face Chavismo on July 28.
“The only way for Maduro to stay in power is by force, he does not have the votes, everyone knows it, and that would imply terrible consequences for the region, not only in terms of his geopolitical ties with Russia, Iran and with guerrilla groups and international terrorists, but of course in terms of migration,” Machado declared during an interview with the Colombian newspaper ‘El Tiempo’.
Machado has also highlighted the large amount of support with which the opposition is running for the elections, and has stressed that they had never had such support in previous elections, which is why she has been convinced of the opposition’s victory.
“Look, we have never gone to an electoral contest with such a level of support and where we are convinced that we are going to win. The street is speaking and speaking harshly. (…) What I tell them is: prepare, because we are a force so great that it is impossible for the regime not to see it,” he stated.
Furthermore, she recalled that all of this is taking place in an environment of persecution against opposition politicians, of whom more than 40 have already been arrested in recent months.
Likewise, she has criticized that a “clean and free election” cannot be trusted when the authorities ruled out her candidacy despite having been elected in the opposition primaries.
Likewise, Machado has assured that the Venezuelan Government has become aware of the opposition force, which is why it has once again shown itself willing to return to dialogue after months of failing to comply with the Barbados Agreements, and that they will not refuse to move forward. in a “negotiation process with guarantees for the parties.”
González ended up being the official candidate of the Democratic Unitary Platform (PUD) after the impossibility of registering Machado, the winner of the 2023 primaries, and his replacement theorist, Corina Yoris.
In addition to Machado’s disqualification, the opposition has denounced the arrest of nearly 40 militants so far this year and coinciding with the electoral campaign, for which they have criticized a “criminalized regime” that positions itself against “the route electoral”, since “no one has committed any crime”.
