María Corina Machado, who has become an unprecedented political phenomenon, has presented an ambitious roadmap to confront the Bolivarian revolution. The final results of the primaries, which give him 2,253,825 votes, the 92.35% of those issuednot only have they confirmed her as a democratic standard-bearer for next year’s presidential elections, they have also given her the endorsement of the anti-Chavista people to lead the opposition, whose traditional parties were defeated without palliatives.
“I am the candidate of the Venezuelans, of those who voted and those who did not do so out of fear. “I received a clear and unequivocal mandate to fight tirelessly against Maduro,” stressed the candidate who was illegally and unconstitutionally disqualified by Chavismo with the aim of cannot defeat the “son of Chávez” at the polls, whom he leads by more than 40% in the surveys. But Machado is clear: “I want Venezuelans to have one certainty, our participation in the 2024 elections is a fact.”
It seemed impossible, but it has happened again. Venezuelans, who seemed surrendered to the excesses of the dictatorship and the normalization process implemented by its international allies, have once again raised their voices to ask for freedomas they already did with the protests of 2014 and 2017, with the parliamentary victory of 2015 and with the challenge of the presidency in charge of Juan Guaidó and the international community in 2019.
“Today we live in a closed autocracy, not a bad government, not a competitive autocracy, as happened in 2012 when the last opposition primary was held. An autocracy that is maintained under three premises: a humanitarian crisis designed from power to keep society under control, a historical diaspora and the violation of human rights as the main state policy. Even so, 2.5 million came out to vote in a democratic, transparent and free process, which does not exist in the country today, and they did so almost by acclamation by the person who proposes a clear route: an urgent change, democracy, freedom. No compromises within the system, no bigger cage. No. A change to recover democracy,” political scientist Walter Molina Galdi explains for EL MUNDO.
The first point of María Corina’s plan, which has grown by two million support since the 2012 opposition primaries and which has also surpassed the then winner, Henrique Capriles, by 300,000 votes, confirms the transformation from candidate to unifier of the popular will with a legitimacy of origin never seen before. Machado intends to build a great alliance, which she calls Great National Agreement, where everyone fits, not only the opposition parties, but also civil society, unions, guilds and students. Previous attempts to build something similar have hit the wall of reality, cemented by egos, politicking and bribery from those in power.