Venezuela: María Corina Machado reappears to lead a massive opposition demonstration in Caracas after Maduro's regime threatened to imprison her

Despite a savage, fierce and unprecedented wave of repression, Venezuela once again took to the streets en masse in protest against the electoral fraud perpetrated by the regime of Nicolás Maduro on July 28. In all corners of the country, hundreds of thousands shouted "We are not afraid," "until the end" and the already iconic chant "And it will fall, and it will fall, this government will fall." However, in addition to the bravery of Venezuelans, the highlight of the day was Venezuelan leader María Corina Machado, who after announcing in an opinion column in the Wall Street Journal that she was in "shelter," appeared hooded in Caracas to lead a massive peaceful demonstration.

"Let's pay tribute to each one of those Venezuelans who were heroes. What could be nobler than becoming a witness and guardian of popular sovereignty? We made history!" said Machado, in one of her most powerful lines in a speech that had audio issues after repressive agents of the regime sabotaged her sound system and tried to kidnap the driver who was driving the truck.

"We are defending popular sovereignty through the vote!" expressed the Venezuelan figurehead, who leads, without a doubt, the opposition movement, despite the fact that the winner of the elections, according to the electoral records collected by the opposition, is Edmundo González. "Never has the regime (of Maduro) been so weak. They have lost all legitimacy."

"We are not going to leave the streets," stated Machado, who, at the end of the route, boarded a motorcycle and disappeared at full speed taking off toward her place of refuge.

"I feel hope to see her despite the threats, I feel that she is a light for Venezuela. I have a lot of faith that we are going to get out of this government," Adrian Pacheco, a 26-year-old shopkeeper, told AFP.

The opposition held similar rallies in other cities of the country, the United States, Latin America and Europe.

Machado's speech also focused on the unity of the Venezuelan people, on the reunification of the family and also on the legitimacy of Edmundo González, who today is not only recognized as president-elect by six countries including the United States, but is also backed by a large majority of Venezuelans who gave him a vote of confidence despite being a practically unknown figure only months ago.

Edmundo Gonzalez was not present today at the demonstration. The dictator Maduro, who has continuously threatened the opposition since Sunday, has called for both him and Machado to be imprisoned.

Chavismo's reaction to the demonstration led by Machado

The Maduro regime, which intensified the repressive machinery throughout the country in the last hours, kidnapping hundreds of citizens and political activists across the country, was forced to react to the successful protest by the opposition.

After the march, Maduro the dictator without evidence denounced an alleged opposition plan to "usurp power."

The socialist dictator also insisted that the allegations of fraud are part of a coup plan against him and warned that "it will not be accepted, with the national laws, that there is an attempt to usurp the Presidency again," drawing a parallel with the international recognition received by Juan Guaidó in 2019.

Subsequently, Maduro attacked González Urrutia, assuring that"today he was afraid to declare himself as the winner" as Guaidó did in 2019 in a public square.

"He did not go to the opposition march (...), they were going to put the sash on him and he was going to self-proclaim (victory). He was afraid," said the dictator, who almost never leaves Miraflores, the presidential palace.

Maduro was ratified on Friday by the ruling National Electoral Council as re-elected president with 52% of the votes, compared to 43% for Gonzalez. However, the number given by the Venezuelan National Electoral Council (CNE) is not backed by evidence, a fact that contrasts with the numbers and transparency of the opposition, which published more than 80 % of the tally sheets on a robust website that has been verified by the world's leading news agencies, including AP. These electoral records show that Gonzalez won the elections with 67% of the votes.

Due to the institutional crisis generated by the actions of the pro-government CNE, Germany, Spain, France, Italy, the Netherlands, Poland and Portugal urged the Venezuelan authorities on Saturday to "quickly publish all the voting records," a demand that is being echoed around the world.

Even the former president of Argentina Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner, a historic ally of chavismo, publicly asked Maduro to "show the voting records" in a heated speech that had global repercussions, surprising many both in Argentina and abroad.

The United States went a step further and declared thatthere is "overwhelming evidence" of Gonzalez Urrutia's victory. Argentina, Uruguay, Ecuador, Costa Rica and Panama followed suit.

Mexico, Colombia and Brazil, meanwhile, are pushing for a political agreement behind the scenes.