(Adnkronos) – Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado today called for new mobilizations against the government of Nicolas Maduro, days before his inauguration ceremony as president for a second term, after he proclaimed himself the winner of the elections last July. The outcome of the vote is disputed by the opposition and much of the international community.
“All of Venezuela will take to the streets, embraced in a beautiful and powerful cry for freedom. Throughout Venezuela, in villages and towns, and in all the cities of the world. Wherever there is a Venezuelan, at the same time, we will shout ‘Glory to the brave’. I will be with you and you must be there. Just as no one can vote for you, no one can replace you on that day that we will tell our grandchildren and that history will record forever. Venezuelans, the time has come,” she declared.
In a video broadcast on her X account, Machado called for the unity of Venezuelans. “What would happen if we all acted together at the same time? A vast majority do not let themselves be crushed by a few, if everyone does what they are supposed to. This is the most important task of our lives and we have it before us, in a few days”, she added, alluding to the presidential inauguration ceremony scheduled for next January 10, when Maduro will be sworn in as leader of Venezuela, after being re-elected in the elections last July.
Machado encouraged the mobilization of citizens, assuring that “the end (of the Maduro presidency) is very near”. She also celebrated the opposition’s “tremendous progress”: “What we have achieved this year is an epic feat. Not only have we defeated a cruel tyranny in the streets across Venezuela. Not only have we defeated them with votes: the most powerful thing, the most transcendent thing, is that we have defeated them in the conscience and hearts of Venezuelans,” she claimed.
Machado celebrated the fact that the opposition “has eliminated everything that sustained the regime: social control, legitimacy, the support of key external actors and public opinion. For this reason, all they have left is to instill fear and use repressive capacity. The ability to scare many and buy some. The moment we break all this, they have nothing left. For this reason, I tell you not to be afraid. There is no fear that can stand between a mother and her son’s life, or between a true soldier and the defense of his homeland,” she declared.
Presidential candidate Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia has assured that he has “no prohibitions” on returning to Venezuela and that he will not reveal “neither the day nor the manner” in which he will return to his country, always with the aim of taking office on 10 January, despite the possibility that the Chavista authorities will arrest him.
