Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado has alerted Venezuelan Dictator Nicolas Maduro is targeting her 84-year old mother.
Machado explained that, for the third time on Sunday, December 1st, “agents of the Maduro regime are harassing my mother in her home. Armed, hooded, and with sirens blasting at full volume.”
Venezuela’s recent presidential elections have ushered in political instability as Maduro has persecuted dissidents challenging the validity of his presidency.
Venezuela’s elections follow failed negotiations between Venezuela’s government and President Joe Biden’s administration over electoral assurances in exchange for sanctions relief.
Despite promises of allowing free and fair elections, the Venezuelan regime barred opposition leader Machado from participating in the same.
However, Machado invested her political capital into former Venezuelan Ambassador Edmundo Gonzalez, who subsequently won the presidential elections.
Despite Gonzalez’s victory, Maduro’s electoral commission declared Maduro as the winner without showing proof of the votes he received.
Most recently, Gonzalez was forced to seek political asylum in Spain after the Maduro regime threatened to arrest him.
Conservative lawmakers have long criticized President Biden’s “conciliatory” approach to Venezuela as emboldening and enriching Maduro’s regime.
Now, all eyes are turning to President-elect Donald Trump in anticipation of his policies towards Venezuela.
Some reports suggest he may be facing pressure to continue Biden’s conciliatory approach in order to secure immigration enforcement in Venezuela.
Meanwhile, however, President Trump’s cabinet picks, such as Secretary of State nominee Marco Rubio, have lobbied for a hardline approach to Venezuela with the ultimate goal of a democratic transition.
Moreover, Trump allies, such as Representative Maria-Elvira Salazar (R-FL), have similarly opted for a tough approach to Venezuela, arguing for Trump to reinstate sanctions as he did during his first administration.
