Venezuelan opposition leader denounces an attack against her by “agents of the regime”

Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado said Thursday that she and her team were victims of an attack after the vehicles in which they travel were vandalized by cutting the “brake hose” of one of the vans. Machado blamed the attack on “agents of the regime,” referring to the government of Nicolás Maduro.

In a video posted on her X account, the opposition leader detailed that the vehicles were vandalized in a residential area in the town of Barquismeto, Lara state, where she was spending the night after a campaign event in support of opposition presidential candidate Edmundo González in Portuguesa state.

In a video that accompanied his message on the social network, he showed how the vehicles were left after the attack, in which, in addition to the brakes of one of the cars being cut, the engine oil of another was emptied, and both were covered in white paint.

Machado reiterated that “(Nicolás) Maduro’s campaign is violence” and holds the president and official candidate responsible for any damage to her physical integrity and that of the members of his team.

On Wednesday, the Venezuelan opposition leader had denounced the arrest of her security chief, Milciades Ávila. “This is happening here, today, 10 days before the presidential election on July 28, a few hours after our security chief was kidnapped,” she denounced.

Machado can only travel by land after the Chavista regime prohibited him from traveling by plane within Venezuela or to other countries.

They ask for an investigation into the attack

Venezuelan opposition parties unanimously condemned the assassination attempt on Machado’s life and called for an independent investigation to clarify the incident.

“We demand that the Public Prosecutor’s Office conduct a serious, exhaustive investigation into this very serious incident, and issue a statement to the Venezuelan people,” the coalition of opposition parties, the Democratic Unitary Platform (PUD), said in a statement.

“Could it be that the arrest of the head of security (of Machado) was part of the plan to create a weakness in the security ring in order to carry out this attack?” the PUD asked.

Machado, who was disqualified by the Supreme Court of Justice from being a candidate in the presidential elections on July 28, delegated her candidacy to diplomat Edmundo González. The candidate, who leads all the polls against Maduro, also denounced the attack against Machado.

González denounced that the “intimidation” of Machado threatens “the development of the electoral process.” He added that the authorities, the National Electoral Council (CNE) and the international community that supports the Barbados Agreement – a pact of electoral guarantees signed between the Government and the PUD – “cannot remain on the sidelines in the face of these events.”

The Venezuelan opposition has denounced that since July 4, when the election campaign officially began, more than 72 opposition leaders have been arbitrarily detained.

In addition, the politician exiled in Spain, Leopoldo López, from the same platform, sent forces to Machado and stressed that “neither this (the attack) nor anything else” will stop her.

Former presidential candidate Henrique Capriles, for his part, said that “impunity, the breakdown of justice and the absence of respect characterize those who misgovern Venezuela,” in reference to the Executive of President Nicolás Maduro.

With information from EFE.

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