María Corina Machado has become a unifying force for Venezuela's divided opposition, hailed for her work for democracy in a country where authoritarian leader Nicolás Maduro has been in power since 2013, and where she herself is forced to live in hiding.
While her work is receiving attention, she is being questioned by some. Her support for US President Donald Trump and his recent Venezuela policy has been criticized. Among other things, the US has attacked suspected drug boats off the coast of Venezuela, and Trump has, according to media reports, called on Maduro to resign or risk attack from the US.
According to Machado, US military pressure is a "necessary measure" to achieve democracy in Venezuela.
Charged with murder conspiracy
As a trained engineer and the daughter of a steel magnate, Machado began challenging the ruling party in Venezuela in 2004, when the organization Súmate, which she co-founded, advocated a vote to oust then-President Hugo Chávez.
But it wasn't until 2010 that she became a full-fledged politician. She was elected to the National Assembly, from which she was expelled in 2014. Machado was subsequently barred from all public office for a year, citing alleged problems with her declaration. She was accused that same year of involvement in an alleged assassination plot against current President Maduro, who succeeded Chávez.
She herself sees the accusations as an attempt to silence her and other opposition figures who had led tens of thousands of people to participate in anti-government protests that sometimes turned violent.
90 percent of the votes
When María Corina Machado announced a new candidacy in 2023, she was named the opposition presidential candidate, with over 90 percent of the vote in a primary election. However, the authorities banned her from running in the presidential election, and she instead embarked on an intensive campaign for the much lesser-known opposition candidate, Edmundo González Urrutia.
According to the opposition, Urrutia won over Maduro in the election, but Maduro was still declared the winner.
Machado appeared to many as tireless during the campaign. Banned from flying, she chose instead to walk and ride a motorcycle. She sought refuge in the homes of supporters, participated in demonstrations, and saw close associates arrested.
At rallies, she asked supporters to vote for Urrutia, shouting in unison with them:
Freedom! Freedom! Freedom!
