What the Media Isn’t Saying About Venezuela’s María Corina Machado

Steve Ellner | Machado is not the godsend for the opposition portrayed by the media and her close supporters. But opposition leaders have more cause for hope than in the past. | [July 5, 2024] The Venezuelan government has disqualified Machado from holding public office for a number of reasons. The initial one was her acceptance in 2014 of a diplomatic position from the government of Panama enabling her to address the Organization of American States, where she called for foreign intervention in Venezuela. In June 2023, the National Controller reimposed the ban. [...] Machado’s Faithful Allies: Among the leaders of the Venezuelan opposition, Machado is Washington’s unmistakable favorite. The Biden administration backs her even though she expressed sympathy for Trump on the eve of the 2020 U.S. presidential elections. Certainly, from an ideological viewpoint, the centrist Biden has more in common with PUD leaders like Rosales and Capriles than with Machado. ■ Washington’s singular preference for Machado became particularly evident between January 26, when the Supreme Tribunal of Justice definitively ruled that she could not run for president, and April 19, when González became the opposition’s candidate. During that period, a journalist asked Francisco Palmieri, head of the U.S. mission for Venezuela located in Bogotá, if “any opposition candidate would satisfy the Biden administration.” Palmieri went straight to the point: “We have and will continue to support María Corina Machado as the candidate of the democratic opposition.” [...] First and foremost, given the attractiveness of other presidential candidates, Washington’s unconditional support for Machado is not only an intrusion in the internal affairs of Venezuela, but in the internal affairs of the Venezuelan opposition. Claudio Fermín, who ran for president on AD’s ticket in 1993 and is one of the 10 presidential candidates for 2024, said he has “never seen this degree of external intervention in a Venezuelan electoral campaign,” adding that it has received “exuberant approval” from some. ■ Washington’s unswerving support for Machado may be related to her extreme version of neoliberalism, which includes the privatization of the oil industry, and to her hard line on the Chavistas. During the Trump administration, Machado even urged Washington to call off efforts to establish a dialogue with Maduro, dubbing such an endeavor a “fraud.” Echoing allegations from Washington, she rejected “impunity” for Chavistas who she called “criminals and mafiosos who have utilized money coming from drug trafficking and the food of Venezuelans.” [Image: Charles Dharapak (AP)]

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■ Nobel Peace Prize Awarded to Venezuelan Opposition Leader María Corina Machado (Ground News)
■ Who Is Maria Corina Machado? Venezuelan Activist Who Beat Donald Trump To Win Nobel Peace Prize 2025 (TN)
✅ Nobel Committee, Fearing Trump’s Wrath, Hands Peace Prize To Regime Change Puppet (Moon of Alabama)