2024-07-29 19:57:38
On the other hand, Venezuelans are suffering from political repression. The left-wing government is cracking down on dissidents. Numerous opposition members have already been imprisoned or excluded from public office. The International Criminal Court in The Hague is investigating crimes against humanity in Venezuela. In view of this, Venezuelan journalist Jesús Zambrano told the New York Times: “I am not prepared to go to prison for my job.”
Many people therefore placed their hopes in the opposition. However, it is not led by presidential candidate Edmundo González, but by María Corina Machado. She has long been a thorn in the president’s side, and actually wanted to be the opposition candidate. She was supported by parties from the center-right to the far right. But the Venezuelan electoral commission banned her candidacy at the beginning of the year due to alleged corruption cases. Machado was banned from elections for 15 years.
However, that does not stop them from campaigning against Nicolás Maduro. Wherever their candidate González goes, Machado is not far away. Political scientist Carmen Beatriz Fernández from the University of Pamplona explained the strategy to the BBC as follows: “It works like a tandem.” Machado is at the wheel while González is pedaling. “She is the one who leads the process.”
And so it is Machado, who is increasingly under political pressure. According to her own statements, her team was attacked last week. Brake hoses were severed on one of her SUVs, but there was no accident. “This is clearly an attack on our lives,” Machado said. Her security chief was also arrested last week, allegedly for “gender-based violence.” Machado, however, said the arrest was aimed at leaving her team unprotected for the remainder of the election campaign.
The opposition’s fighting spirit seems undiminished. González and Machado have repeatedly managed to mobilize large crowds at campaign events. Observers are already comparing the movement with the supporters of the former authoritarian but popular president Hugo Chávez. “They thought they could break us,” Machado shouted at one such event in early July. “What we are experiencing today is magic, it is extraordinary.”