(MENAFN- Newsroom Panama)
Opposition leader María Corina Machado reappeared in public this Saturday to participate in the rally against the official result of the presidential elections, which she claims was won by the candidate of the largest opposition coalition,
Edmundo González Urrutia, despite the fact that the National Electoral Council (CNE) awarded the victory to Nicolás Maduro.
Machado reappeared after two weeks of being held in custody, fearing for her“freedom and her life,” as she explained in a lengthy article published in
The Wall Street Journal, although she continued to speak out through interviews in various media outlets and posts on social media, inviting Venezuelans not to abandon the fight for“the truth” of the elections.
The Wall Street Journal also stated that US Joe Biden is so far silent on this blatant election theft in the Americas. In fact they said "The Biden-Harris administration's history of disgusting appeasement of
Nicolás Maduro, the madman ruling Venezuela, has done nothing but enable more repression, torture and oppression of the Venezuelan people."
Below, the rally in Caracas Venezuela on Saturday.
Newsroom Panama published a recent PBS interview with María Machado in English.
Saturday she appeared again in the already popular campaign truck, cheered by thousands of protesters who heeded her call
to continue the peaceful protest, accompanied by several opponents, such as Delsa Solórzano, Biagio Pilieri or César Pérez Vivas, among others.
The opposition candidate was escorted by a caravan of motorcyclists, as has happened during the electoral campaign, in which she defended the vote for González Urrutia, and in the two public outings she had after the elections, whose official result triggered citizen protests demanding the publication of the official minutes by the CNE, something that has not yet occurred.
The anti-Chavez movement claims to have collected, through witnesses and members of the table,“83.5% of the minutes” that - it insists - give González Urrutia the victory by a wide margin over Maduro, a thesis supported by various countries and national and international organizations, including the UN panel of electoral experts who witnessed the elections and the Carter Center, which also sent a monitoring mission.
Saturday's protests took place in Venezuela's main cities, where thousands of people, carrying flags and copies of the electoral records published on an opposition website, were demanding "the truth" about the presidential election results.
In addition, thousands of Venezuelans gathered in more than 300 locations in various countries around the world, according to the opposition, to join the call of the majority opposition coalition in Venezuela, the Democratic Unitary Platform (PUD).
Amid diplomatic tensions following Venezuela's
presidential elections on July 28, Panamanian President José Raúl Mulino
reiterated Panama's position.
Mulino, who participated in the inauguration of the President of the Dominican Republic, Luis Abinader, on Friday, reiterated that he does not agree with new elections being held in the South American country.
Panama is calling for a transition of power, which should end with the inauguration of opposition leader Edmundo González Urrutia as president of Venezuela.
To this end, Mulino is organizing a meeting of regional leaders to seek a solution to the Venezuelan crisis, something that was criticized in recent days by Maduro, who referred to Mulino as a "low-level spokesman for imperialism."
In an interview with the American network Univision, Mulino responded from the Dominican Republic that he would not enter into an exchange of epithets“with that man, who is not worth a trip to the water.”
Regarding the situation in Venezuela, Mulino said that if there is a new election in Venezuela, it will be stolen again.
Mulino also said that Panama is not offering political asylum to Maduro, and that it would only be a transit country for him to travel to another destination.
"I have not offered permanent asylum. If that gentleman decides to leave and needs a bridge country, a transit country, Panama, I repeat, offers its territory and from there he can go to wherever his final destination has been granted," Mulino said.
Venezuela's largest opposition group claims victory for Edmundo González Urrutia, while the National Electoral Council has declared victory for Maduro. However, the body has not yet presented the official results.
At least 20 countries have demanded the presentation of the minutes of the election results, and several have recognized González Urrutia as the winner.
MENAFN17082024000218011062ID1108571523
Legal Disclaimer:
MENAFN provides the information “as is” without warranty of any kind. We do not accept any responsibility or liability for the accuracy, content, images, videos, licenses, completeness, legality, or reliability of the information contained in this article. If you have any complaints or copyright issues related to this article, kindly contact the provider above.