Venezuela's leading opposition figure has warned of further huge emigration if President Nicolás Maduro stays in power after his disputed re-election.
The country's election authority declared Maduro the winner of the July 28 vote despite not releasing detailed results, sparking protests last week that have left at least 24 people dead.
The opposition has published extensive voting data that shows their candidate, Edmundo González Urrutia as a clear winner, which has been supported by many Latin American countries and the United States.
"If Maduro chooses to stay by force, the only thing we will see is a wave of migration like never before: three, four, five million Venezuelans in a very short span of time," María Corina Machado – who was barred from running in the election and backed González Urrutia – said from Venezuela in a video conference with Mexican news outlets.
Machado called on Mexico's veteran socialist leader Andrés Manuel López Obrador to use his influence to help broker a resolution to Venezuela's political crisis.
López Obrador and Maduro are left-wing allies.
"Mexico has great power because it has a direct channel with the [Maduro] regime," said Machado. "I hope that the Mexican government understands the huge responsibility" that it has, she added.
Last month López Obrador vowed to recognise the results published by Venezuela's electoral authority, which critics accuse of being unfailingly loyal to Maduro.
Maduro has led the oil-rich country since 2013, presiding over a 80 percent drop in GDP that pushed more than seven million of the once-wealthy nation's 30 million citizens to emigrate.
Chilean President Gabriel Boric on Wednesday accused Maduro of trying to steal the election and said his administration is violating human rights.
“I have no doubt that Maduro’s regime has tried to commit fraud,” Boric told reporters at the presidential palace in Santiago. “If not, then they would have shown the voting records. Why haven’t they done so? If they had clearly won, then they would have shown the records.”
“Chile doesn’t recognise Maduro’s self-proclaimed triumph,” Boric said. “We won’t validate results that haven’t been verified by international organisations that are independent from the regime.”
Since taking office in 2022, Boric has spoken out against international human rights violations from Gaza to Ukraine and Nicaragua. He was one of the first heads of state to question the outcome of Venezuela’s election, saying shortly after the initial results were released that the Maduro victory was “hard to believe.”
Regional heavyweights Brazil, Mexico and Colombia, meanwhile, are refraining from taking sides until a thorough accounting of the vote is released.
Earlier this week, President Javier Milei’s government in Argentina officially recognised González Urrutia as the victor.
“The Argentine Republic ... concludes unequivocally that the undisputed winner of the presidential election held in Venezuela on July 28 is Edmundo González Urrutia. The Venezuelan people expressed a majority in favour of his candidacy and the will of the people must be respected,” the Foreign Ministry said in a release.
Venezuela’s regime-controlled electoral authority says Maduro won 52 percent of the vote, but it has yet to release detailed results. The opposition has published records from about 80 percent of voting stations that suggest González Urrutia secured almost 70 percent support, sparking nationwide protests.
Maduro, who has ruled Venezuela since the death of his mentor Hugo Chávez 11 years ago, has threatened to jail González Urrutia and banned Machado for fomenting dissent and alleged electoral meddling.
– TIMES/AFP/BLOOMBERG
Comments