Daniel Lozano

Updated Saturday, April 6, 2024-9:31 p.m.

  • Repression María Corina Machado under attack: Maduro dismantles his political and electoral command with several arrests

  • Dictatorship Venezuelan Lorena Lima ends her hunger strike

Venezuelans spread across different parts of Europe and America responded this Saturday to the call of the opposition leader, María Corina Machado, and united their voices to once again demand free elections for their country. Machado's initiative also coincided with the different initiatives of activists in Europe and Latin America to overcome the so-called

operation morrocoy

, the

slowdown of the registration process in the electoral roll

promoted in the different consulates.

"Without thinking about stopping. We row... Today more than ever the world has to understand the strength that we have accumulated together in a dream of freedom," answered the liberal-conservative leader through her social networks after seeing how the protest multiplied in different countries.

In Madrid, a large group of Venezuelans gathered in the Plaza de Callao after a week full of complaints against the Consulate, which makes it as difficult as

possible to become a voter

.

The protest of the young Lorena Lima, who remained on

hunger strike

in front of the offices of the Chavista legation, encouraged Venezuelans residing in the capital to demand rights that have now been violated. Last Thursday, more than 100 people delivered to the consular authorities a letter rejecting the "established limiting requirements", especially those regarding the obligation to provide

proof of residence and a valid passport

.

Historically, the Bolivarian revolution has made it difficult to vote abroad, knowing that it is mostly anti-Chavista. Currently, and with at least five million potential voters abroad, experts fear that only a few thousand will be able to go to the polls in the July 28 elections. Difficulties that also occur within Venezuela for new voters: at least

three million young people are not yet part of the electoral registry

. For both those within and the diaspora, registration will close in less than two weeks.

"Venezuelans raising their voices due to the systematic discrimination of the regime against those of us who are migrants. We are denied the right to identity and to participate. We are not less for being outside," cried

David Smolanksy

, who for several years served as delegate for Venezuelan migration for the Organization of American States (OAS).

The regime of

Nicolás Maduro

has blocked almost all the paths that lead to the free elections promised in the Barbados Accords with the opposition, sponsored by the international community. The last cacicada of the Caracas government was the blockade against the candidacy of the philosopher and academic Corina Yoris, chosen by María Corina Machado as her replacement. The 80-year-old teacher had the prior approval of all the parties that make up the

Unitary Opposition Platform

.

The latest laws approved by the Bolivarian power, such as the one that seeks to persecute fascism and neo-fascism, also threaten opponents and activists in the electoral process. In recent days, Nicolás Maduro has also resumed threats

against Guyana

, upon approval of the law by which they claim to be willing to annex the territory of Essequibo, in a historical dispute with Georgetown.