Opposition Leader Accuses Maduro of Choosing ‘Repressive’ Path

On Wednesday, the Venezuelan opposition leader accused the country's president, Nicolás Maduro, of choosing the path of ‘repression’ after ‘his defeat’ in the presidential elections.

‘We offered the regime to democratically accept its defeat and move forward with negotiation to ensure a peaceful transition; however, they have chosen the path of repression, violence and lies,’ wrote María Corina Machado, the main supporter of opposition candidate Edmundo González Urrutia, on the social network X (formerly Twitter).

 

The former MP asked Venezuelans to remain ‘active and firm’ and to mobilize to ‘make the truth stand out’, in a reference to the victory she attributed to the candidate of the main opposition coalition - the United Democratic Platform (PUD) - with 70% of the vote.

In his message, Machado recalled that the majority opposition ‘has been fighting for years to unite’ the country ‘around common values in a civic movement to rescue freedom’.

Thousands of citizens have been protesting since Monday against the result issued by the National Electoral Council (CNE), which declared Maduro the winner by just over 704,114 votes against González Urrutia, when more than two million ballot papers were still to be counted, which could alter the final results.

The government labelled the demonstrations ‘terrorist’ and detained more than 1,200 people, according to official figures.

It also blamed the actions on González Urrutia and Machado, who, Maduro said, ‘should be behind bars’.

The Carter Centre, which took part as an observer in the elections, said on Tuesday that the process ‘did not conform’ to international parameters and standards of electoral integrity and therefore this ‘cannot be considered a democratic election’.