Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado has called on Venezuelans to boycott the upcoming May 25th regional and congressional elections.
Opposition leader Machado claimed Venezuelan Dictator Nicolas Maduro was manipulating the elections to legitimize his presidential election victory last summer.
Despite promises of allowing free and fair elections, the Venezuelan regime barred Machado from participating in the same.
However, Machado invested her political capital into former Venezuelan Ambassador Edmundo Gonzalez, who subsequently won the presidential elections.
Ultimately, Gonzalez was forced to seek political asylum in Spain after the Maduro regime rejected the election results and threatened to arrest him.
Maduro eventually proclaimed himself the winner of the presidential elections and persecuted hundreds of Venezuelan dissidents for publicly opposing his authority.
Since Maduro’s fraudulent election, Machado has persistently called for Venezuelans to resist the Venezuelan government’s rule.
Now that regional and congressional elections are nearing, Machado calls for Venezuelans to abstain from voting as a rejection of the Venezuelan government’s authority.
“The 25th of May we will once again fight against the regime,” said Machado. “You have the power to tell them NO. Disobey. Leave them stranded.”
While Machado is the foremost opposition leader, the effectiveness of her non-participation call is being questioned as other opposition groups have rejected her initiative.
Former Venezuelan Presidential Candidate Henrique Capriles, for example, is leading opposition party efforts rallying Venezuelans to vote for pro-democracy candidates.
Such candidates argue that Venezuela’s problems have worsened so that not participating in the upcoming elections is too costly.
Conversely, Machado’s group fears that the Venezuelan government, which controls election authorities, will once again defraud the Venezuelan people by manipulating the election results to the advantage of the regime.
Machado expressed worry that Maduro will leverage opposition candidates’ participation in the May elections to legitimize his rule.
“This (election) is a cruel farce that is obviously predictable and it is a tragedy that some are falling prey to it,” lamented Machado.
