Machado announced a protest against the electoral fraud of Nicolás Maduro – Diario La Página – 2024-08-14 07:44:51

Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado announced Friday that she is preparing a “huge event” to support political change in the country, which held presidential elections on July 28, the official result of which – which confirmed Nicolas Maduro as the winner – has been questioned by anti-Chavez supporters, international observers and several countries.

Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado announced Friday that she is preparing a “huge event” to support political change in the country, which held presidential elections on July 28, the official result of which – which confirmed Nicolas Maduro as the winner – has been questioned by anti-Chavez supporters, international observers and several countries.

“We are going to be calling for a huge event where everyone (…) has to see the strength, determination, the decision that we Venezuelans have made, that there is no turning back,” said the former deputy during a conversation with Venezuelan-American singer Lele Pons, which was broadcast on Instagram.

Without specifying dates, Machado said that this event, which will be held “inside and outside” Venezuela, will be “very soon” and the call will be published “in the next few hours,” in support of the standard-bearer of the Democratic Unitary Platform (PUD), Edmundo González Urrutia, whom she refers to as the “new president-elect” of the South American nation.

“We are not going to leave the streets, that does not mean that we are going to be in the streets every day,” insisted the opposition leader, González Urrutia’s main supporter, who hopes that “all those who are hurt” by Venezuela will join this activity, which she defined as “a moment of encounter.”

He stressed that the movement he leads, which accuses Maduro of electoral fraud, is “organized, civic and peaceful” but “is not docile,” but rather pushes “a very robust strategy” to put an end to the Chavista dictatorship, in power since 1999.

He also considered that Maduro’s recommendation to stop using the WhatsApp messaging application and the suspension of the X social network are signs that “they are scared” in Chavismo, because, he insisted, they lost the elections, as the Carter Center, which participated as an observer of the process, has also denounced.

The National Electoral Council (CNE), which claims to have suffered a cyber attack on voting day, declared Maduro the winner, without yet publishing the disaggregated results as required by law, which has been criticized by numerous countries, including governments allied to Chavez.

The regime rules out negotiating
Meanwhile, Venezuelan dictator Nicolás Maduro on Friday ruled out any negotiations with opposition leader María Corina Machado, after appearing before the Chavista courts, which he asked to “certify” his disputed re-election for a third six-year term.

Maduro was the last candidate to appear before the Electoral Chamber of the Supreme Court of Justice (TSJ), which is subservient to the regime. Eight other presidential candidates, who are minorities, also responded to the call, while the main opposition candidate, Edmundo González Urrutia, who claims victory, defied the summons, alleging “violation of due process.”

“Whatever the Supreme Court of Justice of Venezuela says will be the law of the Republic, it will be a holy verdict,” the leader of Chavismo told the press upon leaving the hearing.

Maduro was declared the winner with 52% of the votes compared to González Urrutia’s 43%, but the National Electoral Council (CNE) did not publish the details of the vote count, alleging a hacking of the voting system. Twelve days later, it still has not done so.

The opposition denounced fraud and claimed to have 80% of the voting records, which prove González Urrutia’s victory.

Maduro, on the other hand, pointed out that “83% of the opposition’s documents” “are false.”

In an interview with the AFP news agency, Machado said that the opposition is proposing a “negotiation for a democratic transition” that “includes guarantees, safeguards and incentives for the parties involved, in this case the regime that was defeated in the presidential election.”

“We are determined to move forward in negotiations,” the leader insisted. “It will be a complex, delicate transition process, in which we will unite the entire nation.”