Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado has said she will stay in Venezuela to continue the fight for power. Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia is in exile in Spain.
Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado said on Monday, a day after opposition presidential candidate Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia fled to Spain, that she would “stay in Venezuela” to continue “the fight” for power.
“I decided to stay in Venezuela and continue the fight from here, while he (González Urrutia) leads it from outside”Maria Corina Machado, who has been in hiding since the announcement of the contested results of the July 28 presidential election, declared via video conference.
On Monday afternoon, Machado called on Venezuelan citizens living in Spain to gather in the Plaza de las Cortes in Madrid, in front of Congress, to “claim” the presidential mandate for the July 28 elections in Venezuela, so that “everyone” recognizes Edmundo González as president-elect.
In a video posted on social media, the opposition leader asked Venezuelans living in Spain to “demand” together that González be recognized as the elected head of state and take office on January 10, 2025, focusing on Tuesday, starting at 6:00 p.m.
To every Venezuelan living in Spain,
This is September 10th, at 6:00 pm, in the Plaza de las Cortes in Madrid, ALL UNITED!
Let’s reclaim the mandate of July 28th!!We have overcome all obstacles to get here and we will continue… pic.twitter.com/nB3NjZIJn9
— Maria Corina Machado (@MariaCorinaYA) September 9, 2024
The Venezuelan opposition leader recalled that, on the same day, Congress will debate the initiative of the Popular Party (PP) – which will be put to a vote on Wednesday – which seeks to have the Spanish Government recognize González as the winner and new president of Venezuela, condemns the repression by the regime of the current incumbent, Nicolás Maduro, and condemns the silence of the former president of the Spanish Government José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero, who participated in mediation missions between the Venezuelan Government and the opposition.
Maria Corina Machado defended unity, “today more than ever”to move forward and overcome “all obstacles,” stating: “We will achieve the liberation of Venezuela and the return of our children home.”
Nicolás Maduro was declared the winner of the presidential elections with 52% of the votes by the National Electoral Council (CNE), which did not make the minutes of the polling stations public.
According to the opposition, which released the voting records provided by its scrutineers, González Urrutia obtained more than 60% of the votes.
The United States, the European Union and several Latin American countries do not recognize Maduro’s re-election.
Eleven American countries reject ruling that recognizes Maduro’s reelection in Venezuela
Much of the international community had already refused to recognise his re-election in 2018, following a presidential election boycotted by the opposition, which alleged fraud.
The announcement of Maduro’s re-election sparked spontaneous protests, violently repressed by security forces, which left at least 27 dead and 192 injured, as well as around 2,400 arrested, according to official sources.
Source: Observadora
