Maria Corina Machado, lauréate du Prix du Nobel de la Paix, visage et âme de l'opposition au Venezuela
Nobel Peace Prize winner Maria Corina Machado, the 58-year-old Venezuelan opposition leader, nicknamed the "liberator" by her supporters, has been living in hiding since the disputed July 2024 presidential election but remains the soul of the Venezuelan opposition.
"A very just recognition for the long struggle of a woman and an entire people for our freedom and our democracy," said opposition presidential candidate Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia.
While President Nicolas Maduro, in power since 2013, was declared the winner by the electoral authority considered to be at the beck and call of the government, the opposition claimed victory for its candidate.
Ms. Machado, declared ineligible, was unable to run, but led the campaign for a then-unknown candidate, rallying crowds behind her.
And it was she who called on her supporters to collect the minutes from each polling station, to "prove" the opposition's victory.
The Venezuelan government, which has not yet released the full results of the election, has cracked down harshly on post-election unrest and intensified political repression in recent months, according to a UN expert mission.
Ms. Machado chose to remain in her country, while Mr. Gonzalez Urrutia, who was the subject of an arrest warrant and verbally harassed by the authorities, was forced into exile in September.
In an interview with AFP at the end of September 2024, she explained that she sometimes lived "weeks without human contact": "I am where I feel most useful for the fight." Taking refuge in a secret location, she continues to fight.
"If anything happens to me, the order is very clear (...), no one will negotiate the freedom of Venezuela for my freedom," she said during a video interview with AFP.
Since the presidential election, she has been giving virtual interviews and participating in debates online, always against a neutral background so that no one recognizes where she is.
Ms. Machado's profile exploded during the October 2023 opposition primaries, garnering more than 90 percent of the vote in a show of force with 3 million participants.
She quickly became the favorite in the polls, nicknamed the "libertadora" ("liberator"), in homage to the "libertador" Simon Bolivar.
Known for being outspoken and uncompromising, traits that experts say contributed greatly to her popularity, Machado repeatedly repeated her campaign slogan: "to the end."
Her name wasn't on the ballot, but she was the face and soul of the opposition. She tirelessly crisscrossed the country, campaigning by car, banned from flying. Screams, tears, and jostling accompanied her appearances.
Ms. Machado then constantly promised "change" in Venezuela, led since 1999 by President Hugo Chavez (1999-2013), then his heir Nicolas Maduro.
The latter was declared the winner of the last presidential election with 52% of the vote by the National Electoral Council, considered to be under the control of the government. The latter did not publish the details of the votes, claiming to be the victim of computer hacking.
The opposition, which published polling station reports, claims that Mr. Gonzalez Urrutia won the election with more than 67% of the vote. The government claims that these reports are "fakes."
It was precisely Ms. Machado who had asked her troops in advance to organize the collection of the minutes.
This has earned him strong international support, with the United States, Europe and many Latin American countries not recognizing Mr. Maduro's re-election.
Awarded the Sakhraov Prize in 2024, Ms. Machado said it was "recognition for every political prisoner, asylum seeker, exile and every citizen of our country who fights for what they believe."
A liberal, she advocates a market economy and has proposed the privatization of the state-owned oil giant Petroleos de Venezuela (PDVSA), the country's main source of revenue, whose production has collapsed due to mismanagement and corruption.
"We will liberate our country and bring our children home," she said, referring to the 7 million Venezuelans who, according to the UN, have left the country in the grip of an interminable economic crisis.
This hoped-for return from the diaspora hits close to home. Her three children—Ana Corina, Henrique, and Ricardo—live abroad.
An engineer by profession, Ms. Machado began her political career in 2002 with the creation of the Sumate (Join Us) association, calling for a referendum to recall President Chavez.
Accused of treason - Sumate receiving funds from the United States - and subject to death threats, she then decided to send her young children to live in the United States but regularly swears, as her campaign slogan, that she will go "to the end."
Supporting the deployment of US warships to the Caribbean, she recently stated on social media: "We have very little time left before Venezuelans reclaim their sovereignty and democracy. We are ready to take the reins of the new government."
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