The woman who should have become Venezuelan president
María Corina Machado: ‘Chavismo has destroyed democratic institutions in Venezuela’
María Corina Machado was barred from all public office ahead of Venezuela's 2024 elections. Yet to this day she is the de facto leader of the opposition. MO* spoke to Machado about social destruction, state terror and hope in the once prosperous country.
This article was translated from Dutch by kompreno, which provides high-quality, distraction-free journalism in five languages. Partner of the European Press Prize, kompreno curates top stories from 30+ sources across 15 European countries. Join here to support independent journalism.
Venezuela, once one of Latin America's richest countries, is today impoverished to the level of Haiti, argues María Corina Machado, Venezuela's most prominent opposition leader. A quarter of the population chose eggshells and left the country. Nearly 80 per cent of those who stayed live in poverty. As schools are only open two days a week, children barely go to school.
For María Corina Machado, there is one culprit in this devastation: chavismo. This political philosophy is named after Hugo Chávez who came to power in 1999, and appointed Nicolas Maduro as his successor just before his death in 2013. Just about all observers agree that Venezuela developed into an authoritarian state mainly under the latter's rule.
The July 2024 elections were a tipping point. Ahead of them, Machado had managed to unite the disintegrated opposition. She was convincingly chosen as a counter-candidate to Maduro who seemed set to lose the battle. But the regime's countermove soon followed. Because of a vague charge of corruption, the Supreme Court decided to bar her from all public office for a period of 15 years.
Enter Edmundo González.
This unknown diplomat saw himself suddenly become a presidential candidate at 75. Although he had barely been able to campaign, González performed surprisingly well. But to no avail. Maduro claimed victory and was thus re-elected president for a third six-year term.
However, printed ballot papers collected by the opposition at each polling station showed otherwise. According to the opposition, not Maduro, but González had won the election, and by 70 per cent.
The regime promptly put $100,000 on his head and González fled to Spain in September. But Machado, the woman who should have become president, decided, according to her supporters with an almost Navalnyan self-sacrifice, to stay in Venezuela, where she has been living in hiding ever since.
El pueblo bravo
During this deep crisis, MO* had a video interview with María Corina Machado, a determined woman who seems to live in a two-dimensional world. On the one hand, there is the cursed tyrant Maduro, and on the other, the pueblo bravo, the brave people who want to throw off the shackles.
Machado sits in a simple armchair under a blinded window that, judging by the sporadic sounds, faces the street. The room's Spartan décor no doubt has only one purpose: nothing must reveal its location.
‘After our overwhelming victory, Maduro immediately resorted to brutal repression. More than 2,000 people were arrested, houses were marked and witnesses were persecuted.’
María Corina Machado tells how she has been indoors for months, with an internet connection as her only contact with the outside world. The opposition leader knows the ropes under Maduro like no other. She has been opposing chavismo since Chávez took office in 1999, and has been the target of attacks by government supporters on several occasions, including an alleged poison attack in the town of Upata in 2017.
Meanwhile, it may be a small miracle that Machado is not yet rotting in a prison. ‘Since the elections of 28 July 2024, political persecution has escalated even more’, says Machado. ‘After our landslide victory, Maduro immediately resorted to brutal repression. More than 2,000 people were arrested, houses marked and witnesses prosecuted. Never before have there been so many political prisoners in Venezuela.’
The regime did release some prisoners in the meantime, but Venezuelan research institute Foro Penal states that Venezuela still has 1,601 political prisoners today.
But even at large, Machado is made very difficult to remain politically active. ‘I won the primaries with 92% of the vote, but was not allowed to register as a presidential candidate. I have not been allowed to take domestic flights for seven years, so I do my opposition work by car. But even then they make things difficult for me: the regime suddenly blocks the highways, or just when I need fuel, they close the petrol stations. When people see that, they sneak me some fuel’, she laughs.
Chávez, the great benefactor?
After 25 years of chavismo, what remains of your country's democratic institutions?
María Corina Machado: ‘These, along with productive capacity and social structure, have been systematically destroyed, which in turn has led to the destruction of many lives and families. Even the history of Venezuela has been distorted and erased. The rifts created in our society have divided us on economic, social and racial grounds.’
‘But today we are at the end of an era, and at the beginning of a new one. Because while all these barriers have divided us, they have also united us in resisting the regime. More than a quarter of the population has fled the country, which has forced us to join forces. I am therefore convinced that chavismo is in a terminal phase today. It is weaker than ever, but therefore more dangerous than ever.’
Most observers, including some key opposition leaders, do agree that Hugo Chávez's social programmes, including a literacy programme, did have a positive impact on the population. As far as you are concerned, is there anything good to say about chavismo?
María Corina Machado: ‘Look, Chávez was a charismatic leader and enjoyed popular support. He challenged the political status quo, but the way was totally wrong. He stirred up feelings of revenge and wanted to destroy and persecute the established political order.’
‘Chávez seized control of the judiciary at lightning speed. He carried out a major purge, dismissing more than 80 per cent of the judges, persecuting journalists and taking control of the media. He convened a Constituent Assembly and brought all institutions of public power under his control. He controlled, in other words, everything: money, political power and - in quotes - legitimacy.’
‘In addition, he used oil wealth to buy international allies, or gave away oil to forge alliances with governments and parties that favoured him. In the process, international markets lent him a hand. When Chávez took office in 1999, the price of oil stood at $8 a barrel. During his rule, it rose to $150 a barrel.’
‘But instead of building a strong economy, he created a system in which citizens became dependent on his favours. His goal was never to really fight poverty. He needed people to live with their hands held up, and if they behaved well, get something from him.’
‘Instead of encouraging employment, education, innovation and strong institutions, he did exactly the opposite. He presented himself as the great benefactor, but under the guise of social programmes he created a subservient society dependent on his mercy.’
Does chavismo need a poor population to ensure its own survival?
María Corina Machado: ‘Chavismo intends to destroy the country. Instead of building an economy where people can buy their own food with the wages from their work, they chose to hand out food parcels. This policy destroyed the national currency and the purchasing power of the people. People no longer live on a salary, but on random bonuses that may or may not be awarded. If you do what the regime requires of you, you get help, otherwise not.’
‘It was also a strategy of the regime to encourage emigration, with the aim of weakening society. Forcing people to leave the country divided families and made migration a weapon to destabilise.’
‘I refuse to go along with that kind of blackmail. No one can manipulate me with the idea of the "great benefactor" for the poor. No, I want a country where poverty no longer exists. I am not going to defend chavismo to be politically correct. What the Chávez and Maduro regimes have done is nothing less than the deliberate destruction of our country.’
Meer over Venezuela
The regime is faltering
Why do you claim that Venezuela is not a classic dictatorship, but a criminal state?
María Corina Machado: ‘Venezuela is the international criminal hub. Just about every criminal force on the planet converges here. Terrorist movements like Hezbollah and Hamas are active here, and the regimes of Syria, Russia and Iran have great influence. The country has become a hub for networks of drug trafficking, mineral smuggling, child prostitution and human organ trafficking.’
‘All these groups are coming together in Venezuela, in collaboration with a criminal system, to take control of the country and destabilise the entire region. In Mexico, the government is still fighting the drug cartels, but in Venezuela they are just the same organisations!’
‘And that criminal network has a global impact, right down to countries like Belgium. Not only because they affect migration flows around the world, but also because they send drugs to Europe, feed corruption and facilitate the illegal trade in minerals and other valuable commodities.’
What alternative do you offer Venezuelans?
María Corina Machado: ‘A new paradigm, namely that of liberalism: individual freedoms and a state that serves society, not the other way around. This requires strong, inclusive, transparent and efficient institutions. It is all about the right system of incentives. The state should not own means of production or wealth, as it does now. On the contrary, we must open the market to investment so that Venezuela can grow and prosper.’
Other opposition leaders sometimes disappear behind bars for years. You were arrested on 9 January but released relatively quickly. How should we interpret that?
María Corina Machado: ‘After mass protests, I was forcibly arrested that day. The police shot at protesters and mistreated me. But bystanders filmed everything and distributed that footage. Because the assault took place in front of the camera, it caused a global reaction. That has been my good fortune.’
‘Originally I was supposed to be taken to a torture centre, but suddenly a counter-order came. "Get lost!", shouted the person who had arrested me. It proves the internal divisions and weakness of the regime. Even within the army, resistance is growing. My release was not a concession, but a sign that the regime is tottering under its own tensions.’
‘Dictatorships always try to sow division. They use blackmail, torture and threats to break political leaders.’
It is often said that the army is a key supporter of the regime. Is that true?
María Corina Machado: ‘The middle and lower ranks of the army, the police and the state bureaucracy want the same as we do: a dignified and free life and the return of their families. They know this can only happen if Maduro leaves.’
Why is it that the Venezuelan opposition to chavismo is so divided?
María Corina Machado: ‘Dictatorships always try to be divisive. They use blackmail, torture and threats to break up political leaders. I know people who were once allies but now, through coercion or fear, work for the regime. Prisoners and their families are put under pressure: “Say this, do that, or you will never see them again.” This affects not only politics, by the way, but also businesses, trade unions, students and even the church.’
‘Yet the call for change convinced all parties to participate in the 2023 primaries without interference from the regime. Despite lack of resources and media, the turnout was massive. With 92% of the vote, I was then elected as the unity candidate. That was a powerful signal for renewal.’
‘Since then, not only the political opposition has been united, but the whole society. Venezuela has never been so united against the dictatorship. And despite persecution, democratic leaders remain steadfast, regardless of whether they are imprisoned, in hiding or in exile.’
‘But the country and history will be implacable in their judgment of who did good, who did bad, and who did nothing.’
International support and recognition
How do you assess international support for the Venezuelan opposition?
María Corina Machado: ‘International support is crucial, especially because the Venezuelan cause is not about left or right, but about right and wrong. This is not about ideology, but about fundamental democratic principles, human rights and freedom.’
‘That is why we get support from a very wide range of movements: from the (leftist; nvdr.) Chilean president Gabriel Boric to the (extreme right; nvdr.) Argentine president Javier Milei. I go to any forum I am invited to, regardless of political affiliation, as long as I can explain Venezuela's situation and ask for support. This struggle transcends political borders.’
Europe is often accused of inaction. What about European support?
María Corina Machado: ‘The European Parliament has been perhaps the most consistent and strong voice in support for Venezuela. We have many friends there, again of different political persuasions, from Giorgia Meloni to Emmanuel Macron.’
‘The award of the Sakharov Prize (European Parliament Prize for Freedom of Thought; ed.) to Venezuelan society was a huge recognition. Although Edmundo González and I were the face of this struggle, we consider this honour a symbol of the courage and resilience of the whole people.’
‘In addition, the Václav Havel Human Rights Prize from the Council of Europe was particularly meaningful for me, because Havel is one of the historical figures I admire most. These international recognitions strengthen our struggle for democracy and freedom.’
‘Maduro needs to understand that every day he stays in power, he gets harder. That is why we need European countries not to look away, but to speak out strongly against corruption, drug trafficking and human rights violations. It is not enough just to speak at the UN Human Rights Council, pressure must also be put on the International Criminal Court and national justice systems. Everyone knows what happened and popular sovereignty must be respected. The full international community has a crucial role to play in this.’
This article was translated from Dutch by kompreno, which provides high-quality, distraction-free journalism in five languages. Partner of the European Press Prize, kompreno curates top stories from 30+ sources across 15 European countries. Join here to support independent journalism.