Caracas protests by María Corina Machado and demands presidential elections

“ Maria, come back, Caracas awaits you”, Maria we are waiting for you” and “Presidential elections already” sang in chorus the protesters, most of them supporters of the Vente Venezuela party, the opposing leader.

Among the protesters was Luso-venezuelan and former political prisoner William Dávila, who denounced that the opposing leader is being the victim of violation of her rights and has already made seven unsuccessful attempts to return to Venezuela.

“ It is a concentration of solidarity with Maria Corina Machado who is the victim of a flagrant violation of her human right to free movement and, at the same time, to enter her country,” she told Lusa, questioning “what legal reasons exist to prevent her presence in her country.”.

“None! Only political arbitrariness, persecution, prevent it from actually being in Venezuela. That is why we left today for a demonstration in a sign of solidarity ", stressed.

William Dávila accused the current interim president of Venezuela of cynicism, stating that he is trying to deceive the international community.

“That’s where the cynicism of Delcy Rodríguez’s speech contrasts yesterday at the UN, when we see that they don’t let Maria Corina in, simply for political reasons. What, then, is the normalization and the call for peace, unity and unity of all the Venezuelan people that you make if you do not let in the main and only leader of the opposition? Therefore, we condemn and repudiate this attitude of the regime ", said.

He also stressed that they demand free presidential elections in the country, because it is “the only way forward with the political transition processes that Marco Rubio himself [US Secretary of State] said existed in Venezuela”

“ He spoke of a phase of political transition that would culminate in free elections. But at the same time, he established a series of steps. We believe that these elections can be held and we have to put pressure on the streets for that to happen, because otherwise we will let time pass, and that is the strategy that Délcy Rodrigues to keep in power ", said.

William Dávila also said he was participating in the concentration as a former political prisoner, to demand the freedom of all prisoners of conscience in Venezuela.

“ I have also come to demand the complete release of more than 350 political prisoners between civilians and military personnel, who are in the various prisons in the country. I demand his release and the right to repair the victims, not to forget [their] and the guarantee that these facts will not be repeated, so that we can have a clear transition process that will lead us to lasting peace and national reconciliation”, he concluded.

On the other hand, Marcos Velazo, from the Vente Venezuela party, explained to journalists that the concentration “is a cry from Venezuelans so that the world knows they want Maria Corina Machado to return to their country”.

On Wednesday, the interim President of Venezuela, Delcy Rodríguez, promised, during the first speech in the UN General Assembly since taking power, holding elections and said that the people of the country will determine the “right moment”.

“I want to make this very clear before this General Assembly: there will be elections in Venezuela,” said Delcy Rodríguez, adding that the government has initiated a “political dialogue with opposition sectors” to ensure a “process based on equality for all.”.

Rodríguez said that the Venezuelan people will determine the best time to start the elections and assured the United Nations that when the time comes, the country’s institutions “will be prepared to ensure an inclusive and transparent process.”.

In this sense, he promised elections with “the responsible and full exercise of politics” and “real conditions of participation in all political forces in the country”.

In Venezuela, the opposition accuses the regime of considering convening presidential elections for 2028 and insists that they should be held already in 2027.

According to the Venezuelan opposition, Maria Corina Machado, has tried seven times, unsuccessfully, to return to her country since last December – after having remained in hiding for about a year to avoid being detained – she left Venezuela to receive the Nobel Peace Prize in Norway.

One of the most recent attempts occurred after the double earthquake that struck Venezuela last June 24.

On 29 June, the opposition leader accused the Venezuelan government of having closed the commercial airspace to prevent its return to Panama City when planning to travel to Venezuela to support earthquake victims.