Elon Musk backs María Corina Machado and sends a message to Venezuelans: "It is time for them to have a chance for a better future"

While Venezuelans are getting ready for difficult days, in which they will not only have to vote but also defend the validity of their vote against the possibility of a mega-fraud, U.S. tycoon Elon Musk sent a message to María Corina Machado, Venezuelan opposition leader, and to the citizens of the South American country who in these next few days will be playing for their future at the polls.

"It is time for the people of Venezuela to have the chance for a better future. Support Maria Corina!" wrote Musk on X, citing a post by Machado where the Venezuelan leader stated that she received the backing of the Argentinean president, libertarian Javier Milei.

In another post, Machado responded to Musk, thanking him for his message and giving a nod to 'X', the tycoon's platform.

"Dear Elon Musk, Venezuelans are achieving extraordinary things. We are determined to live in dignity and prosperity, and to bring our families back home. Tomorrow brings a new beginning; Venezuela will be free!" said Machado.

"I wish the best for the people of Venezuela!", replied Musk.

July 28, the key day for Venezuelans.

Musk's message comes at a time when Venezuelans are ready to show up in masses to vote for Edmundo Gonzalez, the opposition candidate who leads by a wide margin in independent polls and who has the backing of Maria Corina Machado, the country's most popular leader.

Machado, who won the opposition primaries with more than 90 % of the votes last year, cannot participate in the elections due to an illegal disqualification imposed by the regime of Nicolás Maduro, the Venezuelan dictator who succeeded Hugo Chávez and has held power since 2013.

Although on different occasions Venezuelans have dealt with electoral frauds and repression, analysts and experts in Venezuelan politics consider that the country, hand in hand with Machado, has a real opportunity to get out of Chavismo thanks to a series of internal factors that could trigger a transition to democracy.

However, the Maduro regime has shown its teeth, illegally imprisoning members of the Vente Venezuela party (Machado's political organization), expelling international observers who came to monitor the elections and publicly increasing threats against journalists, human rights activists and opposition leaders.

Only on Friday, less than 48 hours before Sunday, Venezuelan authorities deported politicians from Colombia, Spain, Uruguay, Chile, Argentina and other parts of the world so that they could not act as electoral guarantors.

However, beyond the repression and the null electoral guarantees, Venezuelans are really enthusiastic about Machado and Edmundo Gonzalez, a career diplomat who became a candidate unexpectedly, after Machado and Professor Corina Yoris, her first substitute, were unlawfully disqualified.

Chavismo, in a miscalculation, allowed Gonzalez to register provisionally with an electoral card of a political party with the purpose of dividing the opposition and taking Machado out of the electoral game. However, Gonzalez and Machado achieved a political pact, becoming the most popular political duo of the moment in Venezuela, filling the streets throughout the country during the campaign.

While it was thought that the Maduro regime might choose to disqualify González, in the end it did not do so, and now both sides will face each other in an election controlled by the Chavista electoral authorities but which is being closely watched by the rest of the world.