María Corina Machado comes out of hiding and leads a protest against Nicolás Maduro: “All of Venezuela took to the streets”

The leader of the opposition in Venezuela, María Corina Machado, came out of hiding to lead a protest this Thursday against the inauguration of President Nicolás Maduro. Dressed in white, with a flag and on a truck, Machado arrived at the rally in the Chacao commercial neighborhood in Caracas. His last public appearance was on August 28.

“Today all of Venezuela took to the streets,” celebrated Machado before thousands of followers, with whom he previously sang the national anthem. “We are not afraid!” he repeated, following the chorus of the protesters.

Chavismo also called for a parallel march to support Maduro, who on Friday will assume his questioned third consecutive six-year term, amid a new wave of arrests of opponents and civil society leaders that sparked international condemnation.

The opposition accuses Maduro of “stealing” the July 28 elections and claims the victory of Edmundo González Urrutia, already in the Dominican Republic for the last stop of a tour with an uncertain destination: he wants to fly to his country to assume power but the plan seems unlikely.

“Freedom, freedom!”, the opponents chanted earlier. “Edmundo president, here are your people, Edmundo has already won, he is our president!” they also exclaimed.

“They are the past!”

The streets of Caracas woke up taken over by heavily armed security forces and at mid-morning they looked deserted. The government, which often denounces plans to overthrow Maduro from the United States and Colombia, announced the capture of two Americans – “a senior FBI official” and “a senior military official” – whom it linked to a coup d’état, which Washington denies.

The opposition call increased as the hours went by but it is scarce compared to the massive campaign events: there is fear, established in July, after the brutal repression of the demonstrations that broke out after the proclamation of the leftist ruler, with a balance of 28 dead, almost 200 injured and more than 2,400 detained.

Dozens of police and intelligence officers were deployed at opposition concentration points, where Chavismo also installed pompous stages with loud music.

“There is no platform that can handle hope,” shouted a woman in Chacao. “They are the past!”

“For my children I am going to leave my skin on the asphalt but it will be worth it because Venezuela will be free,” said Rafael Castillo, 70 years old. “They are government demons who are feeding on the blood of the people and we cannot allow that.”

Thousands of Maduro’s followers began to gather at the entrance to the gigantic complex of Petare neighborhoods to march. They carry flags and banners.

“The only elected president in this country is called Nicolás Maduro, the people elected him and the people support him,” Noelí Bolívar, 38, told AFP.

Opposition and Chavista marches were replicated in other cities in the country, such as Ciudad Guayana, in the mining state of Bolívar (south), and San Cristóbal, Táchira state, bordering Colombia.

“This is a tyranny, what is coming is going to be worse, that is why we have to fight until the end,” expressed Milen Martínez in Guayana.

Investiture

The presidential investiture ceremony is scheduled for Friday at noon (4:00 p.m. GMT) in Parliament, which Chavismo controls. González Urrutia, who sought asylum in Spain on September 8 after an arrest warrant was issued against him, has said that he wants to return to Venezuela to assume power.

He is on a tour that took him to Argentina, Uruguay, the United States, Panama and the Dominican Republic, where President Luis Abinader showed him his firm support.

González Urrutia did not specify his next steps, whether he will try to travel to Caracas with a group of former right-wing presidents.

“We will all see each other very soon in Caracas in freedom,” he promised at the event in Santo Domingo with Abinader.

The Venezuelan authorities – who are offering $100,000 for his capture – have already warned that if he arrives in the country “he will be detained immediately” and his international companions will be treated as “invaders.”