Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado called on Saturday for officials in the government of Nicolás Maduro to "lay down their arms" and accompany "the freedom" of the country "when the precise moment arrives".
In an audio shared on social networks, the Nobel Peace Prize laureate stated that "the roar of this land that demands freedom grows and resonates within and outside" the nation. "What is going to happen, is already happening. History, law, and the Venezuelan people will be their judges," said Machado.
The anti-Chavista also asked "those who today carry out infamous orders" to, "when the time comes, come out to embrace the people, their people." "You will know very well how and when to take that step because everything around you will be unequivocal. Be a hero and not a criminal, be a pride and not a disgrace to your family, be part of the bright future of Venezuela," she added.
Machado considers fraudulent the controversial re-election of Maduro proclaimed by the electoral body —controlled by officials close to chavism— in the presidential elections of July 2024, in which the opposition leader assures that former ambassador Edmundo González Urrutia, today exiled in Spain, won.
On Wednesday, Machado said she perceives "decisive hours" for Venezuela and guaranteed a "peaceful transition." At a forum of Ibero-American former presidents of the IDEA Group at Miami-Dade College (MDC), she also stated that "what is happening in Venezuela is not just a national fact, it is a turning point for all of Latin America."
The former deputy expressed her confidence that "today Venezuela is on the threshold of freedom" and of "an unprecedented transformation."
Meanwhile, the Maduro government denounces that the U.S. "threatens" Venezuela to promote a "regime change" with its deployment in the Caribbean, a tension heightened this week with Washington's announcement of the military operation 'Southern Spear'.
