Cristian Hernandez / AP
/
AP
Protesters demonstrate on July 29 in Caracas, Venezuela, against the official election results declaring President Nicolás Maduro won reelection.
Kelly: I’m remembering the last time [President-elect] Donald Trump was in the White House. His administration put pressure on Venezuela. He used economic sanctions to do that. Those sanctions wreaked such havoc on your country’s economy that millions of Venezuelans migrated out. What are you hoping for this time from a second Trump administration?
Machado: Well, the fact is that the destruction of our economy happened even before the sanctions were put in place. People leave the country, and we have a growing migration not because of the economic situation; believe me, it’s because of the lack of a future. And everybody here knows that that future is directly linked to democracy and regime change. So, if we want to stop migration, if we want to stop those flows from reaching the United States, we have to go to the cause of the problem. And the cause of the problem right now is Maduro and his brutal regime.
Kelly: Let’s look ahead to January and to presidential politics here in the U.S. President Trump will return to office. I gather you know his pick for Secretary of State, Sen. Marco Rubio. Have you talked to him since the U.S. elections?
Machado: No, no. I spoke with him before and with his staff. He’s a good friend of Latin America, and I think he’s a freedom-loving person [who] stands beside the Venezuelan people.
Kelly: What’s next for you?
Machado: I’ll keep doing what I’m doing right now–reaching out to every single person around the world, letting them know how we’re moving ahead to give hope, and also working and preparing for a peaceful transition.
Kelly: And you’re prepared to fight this fight as long as it takes? Even from hiding?
Machado: Until the end. And we will win. We will prevail. I have no doubt.
Copyright 2024 NPR
Source link : http://www.bing.com/news/apiclick.aspx?ref=FexRss&aid=&tid=6750d22c054442c1a84b060d5380148b&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.wfae.org%2Fpolitics%2F2024-11-29%2Fvenezuelas-opposition-leader-says-maduro-is-weaker-than-ever&c=1945039314876894516&mkt=en-us
Author :
Publish date : 2024-11-29 01:00:00
Copyright for syndicated content belongs to the linked Source.
