MAYARA PAIXÃO
Less than three days before Nicolás Maduro’s inauguration in Venezuela, opposition leader María Corina Machado, sheltered in some unknown place, is trying to mobilize support to prevent the dictator from remaining in power. “The regime is increasingly fractured; If we overcome fear, there will be no repression possible,” he said.
She did not give details of how Edmundo González’s trip to Caracas would take place on Friday (10). The former diplomat who contested the elections against Maduro says he will go to the country to be sworn in, even though the regime says it will arrest him if he does so. González has trips in the days leading up to Panama and the Dominican Republic.
In a press conference with journalists, María Corina stated that she will be on the streets on Thursday (9), from 11 am (10 am local) for an event scheduled by the opposition. Supporters say they fear that the regime will try to detain her, as Caracas claims to be investigating her for treason against the country. On that same day, the Chavista regime called for mobilizations in the capital.
The opponent now draws comparisons between the South American regime and the dictatorship of Bashar al-Assad in Syria, deposed in December amid a lightning movement that surprised everyone. Damascus was one of Caracas’ main international allies.
“We saw the Assad regime as strong, but in the end, in a matter of days it fell. And those who were supposed to help him, Russia, Iran, Hezbollah, were not there”, she continued, for whom “Chavismo has collapsed as a political movement and no longer has social support”, via video call.
One of the main strategies adopted by the opposition has been to ask police and military personnel to rebel against the regime. The basis of the Chavista era is sustained by support for the Bolivarian National Police and the Armed Forces. María Corina said there are signs of dissatisfaction.
“Many police officers and soldiers are currently sending messages and making decisions, thinking about their families, their children. Each person will make the decision whether they want to be a tyrant or a hero”, said the opposition leader and former deputy.
Mobilizing her base, she said that the dictatorship will fall “a day before, on the day or a few days after” and that it is not a regime with just one hierarchy, but rather “with many dominant groups that are now trying to save themselves”.
He asked for support from the region and spoke specifically about González’s visit to Washington, where he was with President Joe Biden this Monday (9) and also with representatives of the future Trump administration. “Venezuela will continue to be a bipartisan cause in the US.”
María Corina was elected by a large majority in a primary election process that the opposition held last year, but was subsequently disqualified by the regime from holding political office. Representing it, then, ran Edmundo González, recognized as president elected by countries such as the USA, Argentina, Uruguay, Paraguay and Peru.
Brazil did not recognize Maduro, nor González, and says it maintains relations with states, not with governments. María Corina did not mention Brasília, but at one point on Tuesday she criticized countries for taking positions like this. “This excuse of recognizing states and not governments for Venezuelans does not work.”
