The case of the women whose small restaurant was closed by the government of Nicolás Maduro, in a remote town in Venezuela, caused outrage and went viral on social networks. The reason that led the socialist regime to make that decision? They served and sold breakfasts to the opposition leader María Corina Machado, to whom they expressed their admiration and desire for change.
Hours after officials from the National Integrated Customs and Tax Administration Service, the body in charge of tax administration, accompanied by soldiers, arrived at the business, located in the precarious town of Corozo Pando, in the Guárico state, the leader and her team returned to know the family situation.
Machado narrated on his X account: “How barbaric these women are! I present to you the Hernándezes: Elis, Mileidis, Pastora and my namesake Corina, owners of the Pancho Grill restaurant in Corozo Pando, Guárico. As many already know, on Wednesday the Seniat closed their business because they sold us breakfast, when we were on our way to San Fernando.”
On the social network, the former deputy to the National Assembly of Venezuela pointed out that the intimidating action of the socialist regime ended in many people from different parts of the country ordering empanadas from her, even from abroad. She added that a person requested breakfast for the children in her community.
Since the restaurant remains closed, the women, the next day, installed a stove, tables, chairs and began selling food under a tree next to the establishment.
They told us that just today they had made 45 empanadas, something that had not happened in years. And below the Seniat advertisement they put this gem of a poster…. pic.twitter.com/HDOdpotSsx
— María Corina Machado (@MariaCorinaYA) May 24, 2024
The family, Machado said, managed to sell 45 empanadas and under the closing label that the Seniat left in their premises, they wrote “until the end”, a phrase heavily used in Edmundo González Urrutia’s campaign for the presidential elections in Venezuela. set for July 28.
“You know, from now on, everyone who comes from Calabozo to San Fernando has to stop here at Pancho Grill, an icon of the fight for freedom and dignity of this country,” said the opposition leader in a video. . “For me it has been a blessing to know them. You are an example and I want you to know that you are counting on us,” she said in another material posted on the social network.
Hours after María Corina Machado was in the restaurant, a video went viral in which the women denounced that authorities from the National Integrated Customs and Tax Administration Service, accompanied by the military, were closing their food establishment.
“They are closing our business here because María Corina Machado came to visit us and stopped by and thank God she bought us 14 breakfasts. Here the Seniat came to us. The Seniat is closing the business for us, who are hard-working and fighting women, who sell two meals a day and they are closing the business for us,” said one of the victims.
He assured that in the area there are several restaurants, bakeries and liquor stores and that, however, that was the only place where the officials were inspecting. He added that they all have children who are studying at university and that their mother suffered a Stroke, so they must buy me medicine.
“Look how they are closing our business. We do not sell 50 meals a day, here we are, this is in Corozo Pando via San Fernando de Apure,” continued the person who documented the procedure. “Sometimes it doesn’t sell, yesterday we sold an empanada, so that you come and tell me that we have to have a tax machine. No one passes here, we are working with our nails,” added another of the Hernándezes.
This is infamous. It’s pure fascism! El Seniat closing a store in Corozo Pando because in the morning @MariaCorinaYA passed by on his way to Apure and bought them some breakfasts. They are destroying the life of a family who stayed to work in Venezuela. pic.twitter.com/Y9h8ioSyI9
— Luis Trincado (@LuisTrincado) May 22, 2024
In Venezuela, it has become common for the Nicolás Maduro regime to act against businesses and people that offer services to María Corina Machado. This includes places where she buys food, hotels where she stays, and companies that rent trucks and equipment for her events. Arbitrary arrests have even been reported in these cases.
Keep reading:
• Venezuelan regime closed a small restaurant where María Corina Machado bought breakfast
• María Corina Machado: “Venezuela has not only a candidate, but its next president”
• Venezuela will rebuild relations with the US if Chavismo loses, says the opposition candidate