Venezuelan opposition leader María Machado has an urgent message for President-elect Donald Trump
After meeting with President Biden at the White House on Monday, Edmundo Gonzalez, the man who won Venezuela’s presidential election in July, went to Argentina and Panama with votes to prove that he, not Nicolás Maduro, is the democratically elected leader of Venezuela.
“We were elected by a landslide, a good man and Edmundo Gonzalez. We have proof of that victory, and the whole world knows it,” María Corina Machado, a senior leader of the Venezuelan opposition, told Fox News. “We won.”
Maduro’s coronation ceremony is scheduled for Friday. Venezuela’s opposition has called for mass street protests to peacefully demand that Maduro, whose authoritarian leadership has nearly wiped out the oil-rich country, be ousted.
2 AMERICANS ARRESTED IN VENEZUELA DURING MADURO’S NIGHT ON ‘TERRORISM’ ALLEGATIONS
Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro speaks at a press conference at the Miraflores Palace in Caracas, Venezuela, Wednesday, July 31, 2024. Maduro said Maria Corina Machado and Edmundo Gonzalez should be sentenced to at least 30 years in prison for inciting post-election violence and seeking to undermine his government. (Gaby Oraa/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
“What we need is for all American institutions to understand that Venezuela is the most important conflict in the Western Hemisphere for the security of the United States,” Machado said via Zoom from his safe house in Venezuela.
“We can be the best partner the United States will have in the Americas, first of all, because we also want to solve the migration problem in our region. We want those Venezuelans to return in billions and voluntarily. And that will happen when they see that there is a future in their country.”
Machado had the following message for President-elect Donald Trump: “Venezuela has a great potential that will never be used… a strong relationship with the United States.”
Gonzalez, who was elected by Venezuela as president in July, also met with National Security Adviser Cong Michael Waltz of Florida while in Washington. Maduro warned Gonzalez that he would be arrested if he returned to Venezuela.
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Opposition leader Maria Corina Machado shows ballot papers during a protest against the re-election of President Nicolás Maduro one month after a disputed presidential vote in which she said the opposition won by a landslide, in Caracas, Venezuela, Wednesday, Aug. 28. 2024. (AP Photo/Cristian Hernandez)
“I want you to know how important it is to the safety of the American people,” explained Machado. “Resolving this conflict in Venezuela, I believe that what happens in the coming days in Venezuela depends not only on democracy, the future of our democracy, but the future of democracy in the region.”
Machado said the fall of the Assad regime in Syria is a cautionary tale for those in the military and law enforcement who still support Maduro. The government has sent a team of secret police to surround the homes of his family members, sent a drone to his mother’s house and kidnapped President-elect Gonzalez’s brother-in-law on Tuesday.
“Maduro has lost everything except fear and oppression. Maduro has lost all popular support, all legitimacy, and even being weak or alone in the world. What has he left? Russia, Iran, Hezbollah,” asked Machado, a former member of the National Assembly of Venezuela. .
Venezuela’s Supreme Court has barred opposition leader Maria Corina Machado from running for president. (AP Photo/Eduardo Verdugo)
Maduro’s regime also arrested two Americans the other day after Gonzalez met with President Biden at the White House, accusing them of being soldiers sent by the US government.
The State Department issued the following statement: “We are concerned about the reports of US citizens detained in Venezuela. We are working to gather more information. Due to privacy and other considerations, we have no further comment on these cases. Any claims of US involvement in the plot to overthrow Maduro are completely false. The United States continues to support a democratic solution to the political crisis in Venezuela.
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The State Department spokesman continued to warn US citizens not to travel to Venezuela, because “Maduro and his friends have shown in the past, they may arrest and detain, without reason or due process, US citizens who enter Venezuela.”
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