 "'We've never been so strong': Venezuela's Opposition leader Maria Corina leads march against Maduro")
After remaining in hiding for days, Venezuelan Opposition leader Maria Corina Machado has come out to lead the movement against longtime ruler Nicolas Maduro.
Following election widely held as rigged as manipulated , Maduro has clung onto power in Venezuela and has unleashed violence upon the Opposition. Rights groups have said that regime forces have killed at least 11 protesters who took to streets against Maduro.
As Machado took to streets on Saturday, thousands of supporters joined her with chants of “freedom, freedom”.
¡Que lo sepa todo el mundo: #GanóVzla! @MariaCorinaYA está aquí, con la gente, y repite: “Nosotros no promovemos la violencia y salir a protestar cívica y pacíficamente no es violencia. No vamos a renunciar a nuestro derecho a la protesta cívica”. pic.twitter.com/1f2QRfldXp
— Comando ConVzla (@ConVzlaComando) August 3, 2024
As part of the crackdown on the Opposition ahead of the election , Maduro’s regime had barred Machado —the most popular leader in the country— from contesting election. It also slapped criminal cases against her supporters and put many of them behind bars. In her absence, the Opposition converged behind Edmundo González, whom the United States has recognised as the true winner of the election.
‘We have never been so strong’
Despite threats to her life, Machado led a rally of thousands of supporters in capital Caracas on Saturday.
Addressing the supporters, Machado said the movement against Maduro had “never been so strong”.
Machado said, “We have never been so strong as today. The regime has never been weaker. We are not going to leave the streets.”
Impact Shorts
More ShortsMachado further called upon the “brave people” of Venezuela to stay firm and resilient.
“I trust this brave people! We move forward with firmness, resilience, and trust. We are united, we know what we have to do and we are doing it well. You are the heroes of this process,” said Machado, as per an English translation of her speech.
In footage from the rally, Machado was seen atop a vehicle moving through the streets of Caracas. She was seen addressing supporters and waving the Venezuelan flags. Even as she was surrounded by fellow Opposition leaders, González was absent amid threats to his life from Maduro’s regime.
Yo confío en este bravo pueblo!
— María Corina Machado (@MariaCorinaYA) August 3, 2024
Avanzamos con FIRMEZA, RESILIENCIA y CONFIANZA.
Estamos unidos, sabemos lo que tenemos que hacer y lo estamos haciendo bien.
Ustedes son los héroes de este proceso.
Venezuela será libre. #GanóVzla pic.twitter.com/rL1jp6fJ1B
Machado further said, “After six days of brutal repression, they thought they were going to silence us, stop us or intimidate us. Look at the response. Today, the presence of each citizen on the streets of Venezuela demonstrates the magnitude of the civic strength we have and the determination to go to the end.”
Even as pre-election surveys showed that the Opposition on its way to won the election as Maduro’s decadelong rule has ruined the nation, the Maduro-controlled election authority declared him as the winner. It said that he won 52 per cent of the vote against 43 per cent of Gonzales. The Opposition, meanwhile, has said that Gonzales received around 70 per cent votes.
Even as Maduro indulged in widespread crackdown on the Opposition, including arresting leaders and barring Machado from the ballot, the regime further indulged in rampant voter suppression on the voting day. Moreover, the regime-controlled election authority has not provided paper tallies to cross-check the result announced.
The Opposition dubbed the Saturday’s march as the “mother of all marches”, as per AFP.
Maduro defies protests, vows to stay in power
Even as he faces all-round opposition over election widely believed to be stolen by him, Maduro has said that he will not step down.
At his own rally, Maduro said his regime will not accept attempts to"usurp the presidency of the republic again", according to AFP.
Maduro further slammed the international criticism and dubbed the talk of electoral fraud as a “trap” orchestrated by Washington to justify “a coup”, as per the agency.
This is the second time that Maduro had claimed victory in election widely concluded to be a sham vote. In 2018 as well, he clung onto power by rigging the vote and staying in power with brute force.
In his decade long, Maduro has presided over the economic ruin of Venezuela. The GDP has fallen by as much as 80 per cent and a Gallup survey has found that as many as 68 per cent Venezuelans struggle to find food and the condition is so dire that even 59 per cent of the richest 20 per cent say they have been unable to afford food because of inflation.
The crisis is such that around 7.7 million Venezuelans have fled the country, according to the United Nations (UN).
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