has appeared in a public event this Sunday, in the celebration of October 12, which Chavismo has renamed as the day of indigenous resistance. “If you want peace, prepare to win it,” said the president with a plume on his head and an indigenous weapon on his shoulder. It is the first statement he makes after it was announced.
Maduro took advantage of the date to reiterate that the military-police-popular union will allow them, according to his forecast, to defeat the threats of imperialism, in reference to the . “Here we don’t want to be slaves to the gringos,” he said. From Caracas, where he inaugurated two new sculptures to honor aboriginal heroes, he also called for the creation of indigenous militias, even internationally with other ethnic groups in the region who, he assures, have expressed their solidarity in the face of tensions with Washington.
As all Chavismo spokespersons usually do, he did not refer directly to Machado, but instead mentioned the leader through insults and avoided referring to the recognition that the Norwegian Nobel Committee gave him on Friday. “90% of the population repudiates the demonic witch of Sayona (horror character from a popular Latin American legend).” The data comes from a survey by Hinterlaces, affiliated with Chavismo. “We want peace and we are going to have peace, but peace with freedom, with sovereignty, independence and equality. Not the peace of the ruins of Gaza nor the peace of death,” Maduro added.
The enormous international impact that the awarding of the Nobel Peace Prize to the opposition leader has had, has been received with caution in Venezuela. There are no celebrations, since the Government after July 28, when the opposition denounced fraud in the elections with the voting records in hand, imposed a policy of even more severe citizen repression. Even so, on the street there are those who comment that they hope that recognition will help make the transition to democracy in Venezuela a reality.
Until last year, Machado was the highest-rated leader in the country in a long time with an approval rating above 80%, according to the most recognized pollsters in the country, a capital that she managed to transfer to her replacement Edmundo González in the race in which Chavismo prevented him from competing, violating the Barbados Accords and the Constitution. Its approval was directly proportional to the desire for a change of government that Venezuelans had at the time. He managed to sweep the opposition primaries, overcoming a meager popularity of just a few points. He also articulated a civic movement to preserve the voting records with which he claims the opposition victory.
Despite the new stagnation of the Venezuelan crisis and the increase in uncertainty about the possibility of a political change, after Maduro assumed a new mandate without presenting results, Machado’s leadership, still diminished, continues to be the most important in the country. The Nobel Prize awarded “for his tireless work in promoting the democratic rights of the Venezuelan people and for his fight to achieve a just and peaceful transition from dictatorship to democracy” has given him new impetus.
