Venezuela’s Thatcher-loving opposition leader denounces aggression to oil-rich neighbour Guyana
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Venezuela’s referendum laying claim to an oil-rich swathe of neighbouring Guyana was a sham, the country’s main opposition leader has said.
María Corina Machado, who counts Margaret Thatcher among her heroes and who will take on Nicolas Maduro in next year’s presidential election, accused the Venezuelan leader of using the territorial dispute as “propaganda”.
The long-running spat over the oil-rich Esequibo region, which is being heard by the International Court of Justice (ICJ), escalated this week when voters in Venezuela rejected the court’s jurisdiction and backed the creation of a new Venezuelan state.
Guyana has questioned the vote’s legitimacy, put its armed forces on high alert and said Mr Maduro is disregarding ICJ orders about taking no action to change the status quo in Esequibo.
Ms Machado told The Telegraph that, while Venezuela “absolutely” has the right to claim ownership over Esequibo, the fight for the territory must be carried out in the courts.
She said: “For all of us the right to and defence of Esequibo is crucial. We have all the arguments from history to defend our claims, but something at this level has to be done seriously and professionally.”
Ms Machado, 56, also poured scorn on the validity of the results, claiming the majority of Venezuelans had stayed home to protest against Mr Maduro’s brutal regime.
Mr Maduro had pleaded for weeks on TikTok and national TV for the Venezuelan public to back the government taking matters into its own hands.
Venezuela’s National Electoral Council reported participation in the referendum of about 10.5 million voters, which would have been just over half of the 20.6 million eligible people.
But Ms Machado said polling stations were deserted and accused the administration of having used threats to try to mobilise people to vote.
She said: “The regime threatened everyone, told public employees they would lose their jobs, told people with cars and buses they would lose access to gas and threatened mothers saying they would not be given access to monthly food boxes.”
Ms Machado added that she was proud the Venezuelan people remained defiant, with many allegedly deciding: “I will not be forced, I will not be threatened.”
She added: “No one in Venezuela questions our right, but it’s one thing to use that as a flag to try and get support for the regime, which everyone rejects.”
Ms Machado said the decision made by the court will have to be complied with.
“We have no time to lose. We have to concentrate on bringing together our best experts and also experts from around the world that can come together and present our arguments in the court.”
Venezuela’s top prosecutor last week ordered the arrest of a dozen opposition members, including three of Ms Machado’s campaign team, accusing them of conspiring against the referendum.
Ms Machado, who has been called the People’s Princess, is gearing up to take on Mr Maduro in next year’s election after winning more than 92 per cent of the vote in the primaries.
The government has tried to discredit the results, decrying alleged fraud since the day of the vote, which was organised without state help and attracted more than 2.3 million voters.
While questions remain over whether next year’s election will be transparent and fair, Ms Machado is in the process of helping mobilise 600,000 people to protect ballots and election integrity next year.
A staunch critic of Mr Maduro’s regime, Ms Machado has been an enemy of Chavismo (political ideology of former president Hugo Chavez) for more than two decades when she called Mr Chavez a thief to his face, live on television.
Banned from holding public office
Last June the government banned Ms Machado from holding public office for 15 years.
The opposition leader believes in the small state, free markets and privatisation. She said her respect for Thatcher was not only because she shared many of her ideas, but “because of her character”.
She added: “She was someone willing to defend what she believed, even if she was against the tide, and my life has always been swimming against the tide.
“People told me my ideas would never be widely accepted. But I said, ‘This is the right thing. This is what works’.”
Citing the country’s gas and oil reserves, Ms Machado dreams of Venezuela being transformed into the “energy hub of the Americas”.
The eldest of four daughters born to a wealthy family, Ms Machado initially trained as an industrial engineer, with plans to follow in her father’s footsteps in the steel industry to “prove he didn’t need any sons”.
But she said she became involved with politics in the early days of Chavismo when she says the “destruction began” and she realised: “You cannot have spaces or islands... where you can feel comfortable if your country is being destroyed.”
When questioned whether she could represent the Venezuelan people with her well-heeled background, Ms Machado said the poor people she speaks to are the most in favour of privatisation.
“They tell me ‘I want to work, let me do it... give me the opportunity to get credit, access to technology, and so on. I want to produce my own things’.”
Like many Venezuelans, Ms Machado has spent years separated from her children.
She sent her daughter and two sons to the US and France more than a decade ago after she began receiving death threats.
Ms Machado just has one wish as she heads into the chaos of next year: that her children hold off on giving her grandchildren.
First, she said, she has to “fix” Venezuela and “deliver the presidency to another democratic government”.
She added: “I want to be a hands-on grandmother... wait a little, please. It’s only six years.”
