Venezuela: This was María Corina Machado’s last speech before being detained

Venezuela’s opposition leader
Maria Corina Machado reappeared this Thursday in a protest in Caracas surrounded by hundreds of followers, after remaining underground since last August 28, when she went out to demonstrate to claim the victory of the anti-Chavista Edmundo González Urrutia in the presidential elections, whose victory was awarded by the National Electoral Council (CNE), controlled by the ruling party, to Nicolás Maduro.

More than four months after his last public appearance and one day before the presidential inauguration, which both Maduro and González Urrutia promise to assume, Machado appeared on the street, as he had promised his followers last Tuesday, during a round of virtual press, to claim, once again, the opposition victory in the elections on July 28.

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“I have never felt so proud in my life. All over Venezuela people took to the streets,” she said, upon arriving at the place where thousands of people had been waiting for her hours before. “We are not afraid,” shouted Machado, a statement that had already become a slogan that was adopted by those present, who chanted with the former deputy.

Dressed in white, with a flag and on a truck, Machado arrived at the rally in the Chacao commercial neighborhood in Caracas.

The opposition leader stated that members of the Government “have been left alone internationally”to which the protesters responded in unison with the cry of “freedom.”

Machado had called on opposition sympathizers to remain focused on “all of Venezuela”, with “serenity and firmness”, and demonstrate for the “fight” and “conquest” of “freedom”, and with “the same energy” of the 28th of July, when she and the largest opposition coalition claim that González Urrutia won by a wide margin, despite the fact that the National Electoral Council (CNE) gave a disputed re-election to Maduro.

Machado assured, through the Democratic Unitary Platform (PUD) -, where the officials later “withdrew”.

“Afraid? We Venezuelans have courage. The truth is not afraid, LET’S GO!” González Urrutia wrote minutes before on his X account.

In her official accounts, the opposition leader has published several messages about her appearance: “WE WON AND OVERCOME FEAR. Nothing is impossible if we Venezuelans ALL go, united,” she wrote. In another he added: “This is over. VENEZUELA WILL BE FREE.”

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In Caracas, hundreds of Venezuelans have gathered with flags and wearing the yellow, blue or red colors of the national flag, as requested by the former deputy, an image that is repeated in numerous parts of the Caribbean country.

Meanwhile, Chavismo, which is also mobilizing this Thursday, installed several platforms at points where the opposition has traditionally marched to respond to the call in support of the swearing-in of Maduro, who will be accompanied by the entire Judiciary and the Bolivarian National Armed Forces ( FANB) at his investiture.

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The presidential inauguration ceremony is scheduled for this Friday at noon local time in Parliament, which Chavismo controls. González Urrutia, who sought asylum in Spain on September 8 after an arrest warrant was issued against him, has said that he wants to return to Venezuela to assume power.

He is on a tour that took him to Argentina, Uruguay, the United States, Panama and the Dominican Republic, where President Luis Abinader showed him his firm support. González Urrutia did not specify his next steps, whether he will try to travel to Caracas with a group of former right-wing presidents. “We will all see each other very soon in Caracas in freedom,” he promised at the event in Santo Domingo with Abinader.

The Venezuelan authorities – who are offering $100,000 for his capture – have already warned that if he arrives in the country “he will be detained immediately” and his international companions will be treated as “invaders.”

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