Opposition Leader María Corina Machado Has Fled Venezuela, Maduro Claims

Mexico City, Mexico, October 15, 2024 (venezuelanalysis.com) – Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro said Monday that far-right opposition leader María Corina Machado had fled Venezuela. 

“She left the country, my sources tell me she fled, they’re cowards,” said Maduro during his weekly television program. 

The Venezuelan president delivered the information in a mocking tone and with a smile on his face, even breaking out into song. 

News that Machado had fled Venezuela follows a notorious public absence of the widely known opposition leader. Machado, who became the face of the US-backed opposition in the lead-up to the July 28 presidential election, has failed to make a public appearance in several weeks.

The far-right politician, who won a controversial primary contest in October 2023, did not appear in a poorly-attended opposition rally on September 28. 

Machado herself and other high-ranking anti-government figures have not commented on the president’s claim despite her social media remaining active, with several posts since Maduro’s announcement on Monday night. The opposition leader is scheduled to appear in an online panel with the Georgetown Americas Institute on Tuesday evening.

Machado’s reported exit from Venezuela comes on the heels of former opposition presidential candidate Edmundo González’s self-imposed exile last month. González was a last-minute addition to the July 28 presidential ballot as a stand-in Machado, who was barred from running after the Supreme Court of Justice (TSJ) upheld a ban from political office. 

Last Friday, the Constitutional Chamber of the Supreme Court of Justice (TSJ) of Venezuela ratified a ruling by the Electoral Chamber that validated the National Electoral Council’s (CNE) official results declaring Maduro the winner of the elections.

The Venezuelan opposition has refused to recognize the official results of the presidential election, instead claiming the result is fraudulent and pledging to fight “until the end” to oust Maduro from power. However, the hardline factions did not submit purported evidence during the Supreme Court’s review of the electoral contest.

Gustavo Silva, a member of Machado’s political organization, was in Washington before the Organization of American States (OAS) on Monday presenting a report that his faction claims serves as proof that the July 28 result was fraudulent. Venezuela has not been a member-state of the OAS since 2019.

Nevertheless, Machado’s exit from the country, if confirmed, together with González’ self-imposed exile in Spain, leaves the opposition in a difficult situation and poorly positioned to make any serious attempt at regime change. 

The departure of Machado, who ran on the slogan that she would fight “until the end”, leaves opposition supporters without one of their most visible leaders inside the country.

Edited by Ricardo Vaz in Caracas.