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María Corina Machado called from Madrid this Saturday to "move forward without delay, excuses, or diversions" towards clean and free elections in Venezuela, with the support of the United States and other international allies.
The call took place during a massive meeting with the Venezuelan diaspora at Puerta del Sol in Madrid, where more than 200,000 people were expected to attend, as part of an international tour that has taken the opposition leader to several cities in Europe and Latin America.
"With the fundamental support of the government of the United States and other allies around the world, we must move forward without delay, without excuses, and without deviations toward clean and free elections where everyone can vote," declared Machado before the crowd gathered in the Spanish capital.
The opposition leader invoked the Venezuelan presidential elections of July 2024 as a source of legitimacy to demand an electoral process with full guarantees, in which all Venezuelans, including the diaspora, can participate.
The political context surrounding this call is unprecedented: Nicolás Maduro was captured on January 3, 2026, by U.S. special forces during Operation Absolute Resolution, at his complex in Fort Tiuna, Caracas, and was transported to New York to face charges of drug trafficking and narco-terrorism.
After Maduro's arrest, Delcy Rodríguez assumed the role of acting president and signed an agreement with Washington to hold free elections before the end of 2026 under international supervision.
United States officially recognized the interim government on March 14, 2026, with the reopening of its embassy in Caracas, and Secretary of State Marco Rubio outlined a three-phase plan: stabilization, recovery, and democratic transition through free elections.
Machado, Nobel Peace Prize 2025, had remained in hiding within Venezuela for 16 months before going into exile, and since then has intensified his international agenda to consolidate support.
In the days leading up to the event at Puerta del Sol, the opposition leader received the Golden Key of the Madrid City Council from the hands of the mayor José Luis Martínez-Almeida on April 17, and met with the president of the Popular Party, Alberto Núñez Feijóo, who greeted her with a single word: "Brave!".
Before her arrival in Spain, Machado was received by the French president Emmanuel Macron in Paris and held meetings with Secretary Rubio in Washington on January 28, March 31, and on a recent date in April 2026.
The State Department expressed on April 17 that it hopes Machado can return to Venezuela and participate freely in the upcoming elections, a signal that the leader interpreted as support for her candidacy.
"As we can only conceive of living in freedom and in Venezuela, we have a purpose and a goal to achieve. And that is precisely what we are going to do," affirmed Machado before the thousands of Venezuelans gathered in Madrid.
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