A Cuban journalist based in Chile played a key role in one of the most emotional moments during the recent visit of Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado to Santiago. His message, filled with historical memory and hope for Cuba and Venezuela, deeply moved the leader and resonated among those present.
The moment occurred at the end of a press conference that Machado held in the Chilean capital as part of his visit to the country to participate in activities related to the inauguration of President José Antonio Kast.
There, Cuban journalist Pablo Alfonso requested the floor and recalled an episode that took place in 2012 in the Venezuelan Parliament, when Hugo Chávez told Machado the phrase: “An eagle does not catch flies,” after she accused him to his face of equating expropriation with theft.
More than a decade later, Alfonso recalled that moment to emphasize how the figure that chavismo sought to downplay ultimately became, for many, a symbol of resistance against authoritarianism in the region.
"He did not have to undergo a metamorphosis. That supposed fly has today brought hope to my Cuba, to Venezuela, and to an entire continent in the pursuit of freedom," expressed the Cuban journalist.
In a message that appealed directly to the solidarity among peoples who have lived under authoritarian regimes, Alfonso spoke "on behalf of all Cubans who extend our hand to freedom" and asked Machado for a symbolic embrace.
He also posed a reflection on that phrase from Chávez: that one day it may be remembered as “the mistake of a power that did not know how to magnify the woman who had so much moral authority in front of it.”
The gesture moved Machado, who responded with words that expanded the message to the entire region and explicitly mentioned the situation in Cuba.
He recalled that a president must understand that they are in service to all citizens and not above them. "A president has to understand that they are in service to all their citizens, including the most disadvantaged," he said.
Machado stated that the future democratic Venezuela will be committed to the defense of freedom throughout the continent. “Cuba will be free. And we, as a Venezuelan nation, will be safeguarding, protecting, and promoting the freedom of all other nations,” he assured.
The leader warned that losing freedom has been devastating for her country, but insisted that the process of change is irreversible. "Freedom is near and this process is irreversible. Venezuela will be free," she said, confident that soon Venezuelans will be able to rebuild their nation.
The exchange between the Cuban journalist and the Venezuelan leader was shared on social media by the user Cristian Crespo and quickly began to circulate among Cubans and Venezuelans in exile, who saw in that brief dialogue a scene that encapsulates the shared hopes of both peoples.
Machado's visit to Chile takes place amid a busy international agenda and at a time when he reiterated in Santiago that the Venezuelan regime is "already politically defeated," although it is still necessary to "completely remove it" from power. In that context, the unexpected message from a Cuban in the room became one of the most discussed moments of his visit to the South American country.
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