Venezuela's opposition leader, María Corina Machado, has been touring Venezuela for months. Her tour has not focused on big cities, but on small towns, where she achieves impressive turnouts. The euphoria at these events has also surprised.
"I have been covering Venezuelan politics all my life. I have seen presidents come and go, and I have never seen anything like this in a campaign. Never," renowned journalist Nitu Pérez Osuna told Voz Media.
Last weekend, Machado went to the coastal state of Falcón. Along the way, the inhabitants of the towns she passed through stopped her. Running, they shouted to her that she was their hope. They begged her not to betray them. Through tears, moved, they hugged her.
When she arrived in Coro, the largest city in Falcón, thousands of Venezuelans were waiting around the stage to listen to her. When Machado appeared, the noise could be heard for miles. The children, on their parents' shoulders, applauded. Some were also crying with emotion.
Des-bor-da-do: Así está Coro para escuchar a @MariaCorinaYA. #Falcón y toda Venezuela despertó. Vamos con fuerza a #EleccionesLibresVzla. pic.twitter.com/I9disNY6jM
— Comando ConVzla (@ConVzlaComando) May 1, 2024
"Here we decree the end of socialism!" Machado told them. Thousands applauded.
"This is a fight of good against evil!"
María Corina Machado, although she cannot officially run as a candidate in the presidential elections on July 28 due to an arbitrary disqualification against her by the regime, established herself in October of last year as the leader of the opposition after a very successful primary election where she obtained 92% of the nearly 3 million votes.
However, Machado has decided to campaign around the representative of the opposition unit, the candidate Edmundo González Urrutia, who managed to register his candidacy with the Venezuelan National Electoral Council. González, who is a low-profile diplomat, has achieved enormous popularity mainly thanks to the support of Machado.
"I vote for whoever María Corina says, I don't care who it is!" a resident of the Falcón state told Voz Media. "I trust María Corina, I know that she will never betray us," he added.
After Falcón, Machado visited the important state of Zulia, a major oil-producing region. It took her a while to reach the stage in the city of Maracaibo due to hundreds of inhabitants from different towns stopping her when they saw her approaching.
In Maracaibo, the state capital, a platform on the city's main street was waiting for her. Thousands of citizens began to gather early in the morning. Witnesses claim that they had never seen a similar turnout in the city. A drone shot shows the impressive rally.
#VENEZUELA | Ciudadanos de Maracaibo salen masivamente a las calles a apoyar a María Corina Machado y la candidatura presidencial de Edmundo Gonzalez, la opción en contra del régimen de Nicolás Maduro en las próximas elecciones presidenciales a celebrarse en julio del presente… pic.twitter.com/Z5JRbe7Hnb
— VOZ (@VozMediaUSA) May 2, 2024
After her tour through both states, it was learned that the regime had decided to sanction the hotels where Machado had stayed. The hotels were closed and fined, under the pretext of financial irregularities, but for the sole reason of hosting the main opposition leader.
It is not a simple tour. Machado must face the full weight of the state. People who attend demonstrations and appear on social media are then arrested or disappear at the hands of Venezuelan Intelligence, the SEBIN, just as happened in the state of Portuguesa, where three activists went missing.
🚨 #Venezuela | 🗣️ "Tengo 20 años, no me quiero ir del país. Tengo mucha fe"
Cientos de personas salieron a las calles en el estado Portuguesa, Venezuela, este jueves para recibir a la líder opositora María Corina Machado (@MariaCorinaYA), quien estuvo de visita en la región… pic.twitter.com/7Vfubx9qf7
— VOZ (@VozMediaUSA) April 26, 2024
Likewise, Machado must call people together organically, using social media or relying on the organization of her supporters. The regime prohibited any national media from covering the opposition leader. In addition, Machado is prohibited from traveling on domestic planes. There are also records that the regime closes the restaurants where Machado eats with her team.
And yet, the support for the opposition leader is massive, surpassing by thousands and thousands any effort by the regime to brandish her popularity.
"Machado has everything against her. The regime has tried to instill terror in the population so that they do not go to their protests, and still people attend. People are beginning to lose fear and are mobilizing out of hope," said Nitu Perez Osuna.
This Wednesday, May 8, Machado resumed her tour in the Andean state of Trujillo. The images, although it seemed impossible, show even more people than those from Zulia and Falcón. People manage to identify her caravan and, by bicycle, motorcycle or on foot, they accompany her as she enters the state. As she passes through the small streets of the towns, the residents come out of their houses, all of them, to greet her.
Parents, running, approach the truck only for Machado to hug the babies. They take a photo that they will later proudly show to their families. Everyone does it with emotion, some with tears in their eyes.
Machado's visit to Trujillo on May 8 lasted all day. It was 11 p.m., and the opposition leader's caravan was still traveling through the state at a slow speed due to the number of people surrounding it.
The tour continued this Thursday, May 9. Around noon, Machado entered the city of Valera, one of the most important in the state. A battered, formerly Chavista city took to the streets today to welcome and celebrate the arrival of Machado.
¡Niños de un colegio en Trujillo salen corriendo para saludar a María Corina Machado! https://t.co/CcxKX6EjK4
— Orlando Avendaño (@OrlvndoA) May 9, 2024
"For my daughter! For my daughter, please!" said a man who approached his truck through tears. He was carrying a barely-month-old baby girl in his hands. Machado hugged her.
The attendance surprised even the residents of Valera. Thousands and thousands of people in a very small city, with just over 150,000 inhabitants.
"Was the whole town outside? The whole town was outside! If you ask me, no one stayed in their house," a city resident told Voz Media.
One of the most moving images was when, as they passed by a public school, all the children began to run towards the fence that separated them from Machado's caravan. Some shouted: "Long live María Corina!"
It is a recurring image. Children, whose parents have had to migrate due to the deep social and economic crisis that has besieged the country for more than a decade, today aspire to grow up in freedom. They have stayed with their grandparents, elderly people exhausted by socialism.
"I am 80 years old and I want my children to come back! I have always trusted María Corina!" said an elderly woman before Machado's visit.
Already on stage, in front of tens of thousands of people, the opposition leader welcomed a child. The young man, crying, hugged her tightly. She promised him that his family will return and that he will grow up in a free country. He thanked her. Others in the audience were crying.
Valera… sin palabras!
Tantas familias separadas, tantos niños viviendo esto en primera persona. Por ustedes, todo!#Trujillo pic.twitter.com/ecz0ubhqbq
— María Corina Machado (@MariaCorinaYA) May 9, 2024
María Corina Machado waits to face Maduro in elections with the representation of candidate Edmundo González. Although Maduro has already committed electoral fraud in the past and has maintained on multiple occasions that he will not leave power "neither by hook nor by crook," María Corina Machado insists that a peaceful political transition is in the regime's best interest.
In all polls, Machado surpasses any opponent or competitor in popularity—by at least 50 points compared to Maduro. The surprising thing is that González received an automatic transfer of support once the opposition leader decided to give him her blessing. The duo still must face the numerous obstacles that the dictatorship will impose to prevent the development of the movement.
For a few months now, the opposition leader has been subjected to unprecedented repression, with the arrest or persecution of practically her entire operational team.
