María Corina Machado: “Europe is with us”

On Thursday, the European Parliament voted on a non-binding resolution against the regime of Nicolas Maduro, recognising Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia as the legitimate winner of Venezuela’s presidential elections.

María Corina Machado, Venezuela’s main opposition leader, told Euronews that the resolution was “historic”. “Europe is with us,” she said. “Let’s not dwell on minor aspects, Europe recognises that Maduro didn’t win.”

She spoke with Euronews from an undisclosed location for security reasons, as she is fearful of persecution by President Maduro’s regime.

Machado claimed that the future of Venezuela is crucial for European security, stressing the importance of the EU’s role in ousting Venezuela’s Bolivarian authoritarian regime. “The case of Venezuela is so critical to the security of the Western Hemisphere and so dramatic on the human level, that many European countries that don’t have a historical leadership in Latin America have taken the initiative.”

‘The Spanish government should go much further’

But Machado also urged the Spanish government to go a step further and act with greater determination in the fight for democracy in her country. She wants Spain’s prime minister to recognise Edmundo González Urrutia as elected president, following the European Parliament, as well as Spain’s own Congress and Senate.

“I do believe that the Spanish government should go much further, because they know the truth, just like other European countries,” Machado said.

So far houses of Spain’s parliament has recognised Gonzalez, but the Spanish government has yet to take a position.

Two Spaniards, two Czechs and three US nationals have been detained recently in Venezuela for an alleged murder attempt on Maduro. The authorities of the three countries have rejected those allegations.

You can read Euronews’ full-length interview with María Corina Machadohere.