“There is no turning back until Edmundo González’s victory is upheld”

EFE

Anti-Chavez leader María Corina Machado said yesterday that “there is no turning back” in Venezuela until “enforcing” the victory that, she insists, was achieved by the presidential standard-bearer of the majority opposition, Edmundo González Urrutia, in the elections of last July 28, whose official result ratified Nicolás Maduro as re-elected president.

“A truth has emerged that no one can change: González Urrutia is the elected president of Venezuela (…) we must defend that truth and assert our unstoppable will. Nobody said that this would be easy, but let the world be very clear, there is no turning back, this is irreversible and it is until the end,” said the former deputy in an audio that she spread through social networks.

He called on his supporters to maintain “unity and firmness” and to take care of “each other, both in the streets and on social media,” just as the number of arrests of anti-Chavez activists who protested – sometimes in contexts that led to violent acts – against the result announced by the CNE, whom the Prosecutor’s Office accuses of being terrorists, is increasing.

“Fear will not paralyze us, we will overcome it and we will not leave the streets,” Machado continued after clarifying that his plan does not include “always being in the streets,” but rather includes “moments of preparation” to, among other things, “reach out to allies around the world, which are many.”

He said that Maduro – who in recent days called for people to stop using WhatsApp and denounced TikTok and Instagram as multipliers of hatred – seeks to intimidate Venezuelans so that they do not communicate, after a wave of protests “against fraud” that has left more than 2,000 people arrested and 13 dead.

“Because if we were isolated we would be much weaker and that is not going to happen, we will always find ways to stay connected,” added Machado.

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