During her tours across the country, the former opposition presidential candidate María Corina Machado has heard the heartrending cries of Venezuelan mothers and fathers who long only for the return of their children.
Felix Hurtado, an elderly man with a pacemaker, intercepted Machado during his tour of the Bolívar state to tell him that his children are professionals and had to leave the country.
"I have seven children, and they all left here. I want my children to come back. I only ask that Maduro go away and leave us in peace," she pleaded through tears to the former candidate, who responded with emotion, "Have faith that we will achieve this."
A mother identified as Melisa Guzmán desperately approached her, saying: "I trust you, and my heart is with you. You are my hope for my brothers, my cousins, and my daughter, my only daughter, to return home."
"I'm going to vote, I'm going to protect you, I'm not going to implement the 1x20 scheme; I'm going to implement the 1x100 and I will go to every town, to every corner, to ask people to vote," he expressed.
In a post on the social network X, Machado—who dominated the opposition primaries last year but was disqualified by Maduro's regime, and therefore will not appear on the ballot in the July elections—stated that many Venezuelan families have been separated over the past few decades.
"A country united in a single purpose: to see it through to the end, to free Venezuela and reunite our families forever," he assured.
According to the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR), more than 7.7 million people have left Venezuela in search of protection and a better life.
Most of them—over 6.5 million people—have been welcomed by countries in Latin America and the Caribbean.
In March, Maduro's regime disqualified Machado, who, although he will not be on the ballot for Venezuela's presidential elections on July 28, continues to travel throughout the country in search of rekindling the hopes of the opposition and those tired of chavismo, who have been demobilized for years.
The woman holds rallies and campaign events in small locations across the country, gathering hundreds of supporters. These actions are also mirrored by the Chavismo, which is seeking the reelection of Nicolás Maduro.
Following a political agreement among various sectors of the opposition, Edmundo González, a little-known former diplomat, will take Machado's place on the ballot.
Filed under:
