Machado voices ‘determination’ to negotiate with Venezuelan interim leader

CARACAS: Venezuelan opposition leader and Nobel laureate Maria Corina Machado said Thursday she was determined to negotiate a democratic transition with her country’s interim leader following Nicolas Maduro’s ouster in January.

The opposition, led by Machado, had until now been claiming the victory of its candidate, Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia, in 2024 elections from which Maduro emerged the apparent winner.

In a statement from Panama, Machado asked the US to help “promote a serious, firm and responsible political negotiation with the interim regime to restore democracy in Venezuela.”

“The central purpose of this negotiation is to achieve the holding of a free, transparent, and sovereign presidential election,” she added.

Machado has expressed confidence in US President Donald Trump’s plans for Venezuela after his administration authorized a raid on Caracas in January to abduct then-leader Maduro.

She said Saturday she would run in an as-yet-unplanned future election.

“I will be a candidate,” she announced while traveling in Panama to meet with Venezuelan diaspora members.

Trump suggested that new elections would be held after the military operation, but a vote remains unscheduled.

Since then, Venezuela has been governed by Maduro’s former vice president Delcy Rodriguez.

Exiled Machado is considered a fugitive by the Venezuelan government, which accuses her of calling for military intervention against the country.

She made a public appearance in Oslo, Norway in December to receive the Nobel Peace Prize, and has spent this year meeting with political leaders around the world.

She has said she intends to return to Venezuela, without specifying a date.

المصدر: Free Malaysia Today