Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro’s campaign of repression after his widely disputed claims of election victory is unsustainable, opposition leader María Corina Machado said in an interview.
Speaking from hiding, Machado, a conservative former lawmaker and scion of a wealthy family, told the Financial Times that Maduro “wants to sow terror, but it is not sustainable”.
“Clearly, a lot of people are scared and their instinct is to protect themselves, and we have the duty to look after our people while piling on the pressure,” Machado said.
“We’re not going to leave the streets.”
Maduro was declared winner of the July 28 presidential election, though the National Electoral Council, controlled by his allies, has not published a breakdown of the results despite calls to do so from the international community.
The opposition said its candidate, retired diplomat Edmundo González — who stood after Machado was banned from running — was the real winner, and published thousands of voting tally receipts as evidence.
Maduro, a revolutionary socialist in power since 2013, has cracked down on protests that broke out after the election, with at least 1,500 people arrested and 24 killed in relation to the demonstrations, according to rights groups. During his frequent televised speeches, he has lambasted demonstrators as part of a US-backed “fascist” coup attempt, while calling for Machado to be arrested for promoting “terrorism”.
Maduro asked the supreme court, which like so many levers of power in Venezuela is controlled by officials from his ruling socialist party, to decide. On Thursday, it ratified the president’s victory. The US said on Friday the supreme court’s ruling “lacks all credibility”, with many Latin American countries echoing the sentiment.
“Now is the time for the Venezuelan parties to begin discussions on a respectful, peaceful transition in accordance with Venezuelan electoral law, and the wishes of the Venezuelan people,” Verdant Patel, a state department spokesperson, said in a statement.
“The whole world knows that Edmundo González is the president-elect,” Machado said. “We forced the regime to do what they did on Thursday, which is to try to use the supreme court, which everyone knows is an arm of the represser, to whitewash.”
Brazil and Colombia, both neighbours of Venezuela, are pursuing negotiations between Maduro and the opposition, though have come up short so far. Brazil’s President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva and his Colombian counterpart Gustavo Petro, both leftists sympathetic towards the government in Caracas, have floated a rerun of the election, but Machado rebuffed that idea.
“For the Venezuelan people, the financial sector and creditors, political actors and the regime, including Maduro himself, it’s in the best interest of everyone to move ahead with a peaceful and orderly transition,” Machado said.
The opposition’s strategy, Machado continued, is to keep pressure on Maduro through a mix of scheduled protests and foreign diplomacy that would weaken his support and force a negotiated settlement.
“We all wanted this to be resolved on election night, but we know what we are up against,” Machado said. “So we have to act calmly, firmly, and intelligently, because we do have a robust strategy, and that is to apply pressure — from within and outside — so that support is fractured.”
Phil Gunson, a Venezuela analyst at the International Crisis Group, said that while negotiations ahead of the January 10 inauguration are the best solution, neither side appears ready to sit down.
“The opposition has a way to go before they’re really prepared to negotiate the kind of things the government would demand,” Gunson said. “And it’s not even clear the government is ready to do more than pretend to negotiate.”
Beyond Venezuela’s fragile democracy, at stake is a potential wave of migration beyond the 7.7mn Venezuelans who have already fled, and the restructuring of $160bn of sovereign and state oil company debt. A tepid economic recovery since 2021 — following eight years in which GDP shrank by three-quarters — could be roiled by the crisis, analysts say.
US sanctions on Venezuela’s oil sector remain in place, though Washington granted exemptions to some companies.
Attempts to force Maduro from power have been unsuccessful in the past — a Trump-era move to install another opposition leader, Juan Guiado, in 2019 fizzled despite backing from dozens of Western countries.
“There is a dilemma as the opposition is not offering stability or the elimination of sanctions in these times of political crisis,” said Horacio Velutini, president of the Caracas stock exchange. “The Venezuelan business sector is seeking stability and not more sanctions.”
Meanwhile, Machado remains in hiding amid fears she could be arrested at any moment. She has only been seen in public twice this month, when she arrived at rallies cloaked in a hooded sweatshirt, before speaking to thousands of supporters from the top of a small lorry.
“At the end of the day, I feel a serenity and a tranquillity that surprises me,” Machado said, switching between English and Spanish. “We are in a new phase, where one learns to act with both boldness and prudence at the same time.”
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