In her interview with Donald Trump Jr., opposition leader María Corina Machado firmly identified Nicolás Maduro’s government as a criminal regime rather than a political one. However, her excessive optimism is puzzling, especially when she claims that Venezuela doesn’t need external help to free itself from this tyranny.
The warning comes from Adriana Vigilanza García, a political lawyer and expert in electoral laws and human rights advocate, who analyzed the interview. While she acknowledges that the use of the English language indicates it was aimed at an international audience, particularly in the U.S., she feels that some crucial aspects were not addressed sufficiently which are essential for resolving the Venezuelan crisis.
Vigilanza emphasizes the significant fact that until now, no Venezuelan opposition leader had characterized Maduro’s regime for what it truly is, a criminal regime. She noted that for years the opposition has remained indifferent to this stance, which many have long warned about.
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The Exceptional Support for María Corina Machado
Adriana Vigilanza points out that although there have been warnings for years regarding the ineffectiveness of participating in elections as a means to exit Maduro’s regime, they agreed to support María Corina Machado knowing she would not recognize the electoral fraud, as indeed happened.
This clarification is made because, as she asserts, Maduro’s regime has three pillars, one of which is the false opposition, all of which must be dismantled to defeat it. The other two are obviously the regime itself and the financiers who are laundering the dictatorship’s money and maintaining it in power.
It is crucial to emphasize the unprecedented scale of corruption, which, according to some estimates, may have exceeded one trillion dollars.
A select group of untouchables by justice, such as Rafael Ramírez, Raúl Gorrín, the “bolichicos,” and others, have drained Venezuela and are now living lavishly with their millions in Europe, particularly in Spain and Portugal, which have become a safe haven for these incredibly corrupt individuals.
These are members of organized crime, money launderers, operators of the regime, who also pay opposition groups to ensure that if they ever come to power, they will forget about the past wrongdoings.
“María Corina Machado made some important distinctions, like stating that Nicolás Maduro’s is a criminal regime. It is vital for a Venezuelan opposition leader to say this because none had ever made such a declaration before her.”
The Criminal Nature of Chavismo
Adriana Vigilanza warns about the mishaps and mistakes made by María Corina Machado in the interview with Donald Trump Jr.
Before continuing her analysis, Adriana Vigilanza warns that it is a colossal mistake to attribute the criminal character solely to Nicolás Maduro’s administration while exonerating Hugo Chávez Frías from any responsibility.
She believes it is disastrous to ignore that, from day one of Chávez’s administration, an unprecedented looting began in Venezuela in alliance with organized crime. “We cannot overlook the support Hugo Chávez received for his looting, as he distributed millions of dollars to the left, which remained silent in the face of the monstrous crimes he committed as well.”
She emphasizes that this fact was concealed by the media, which failed to show the world how Chávez engaged in state terrorism from the outset of his government, as most are leftist-controlled. She notes that Chávez threatened Venezuelans by stating that if the revolution could not be achieved peacefully, it would be accomplished through arms, which indeed occurred in 2002 when he ordered the murder of 19 people using snipers.
She highlights that in light of all this, silence prevailed because international institutions are also dominated by the left and act in complicity with the regime. “The socialist narrative prevailed that Chávez was the victim of a coup d’état on April 11, 2002, despite being the perpetrator.”
It is Not a Political Conflict
Adriana Vigilanza reiterates the significance of María Corina Machado explaining in her interview with Donald Trump Jr. that socialism is the root cause of Venezuela’s tragedies, clarifying that it is a criminal regime and not merely a political conflict.
She also references another common phrase used in Venezuela, repeated by the academically left-leaning, that there is political polarization in the country, which implies a struggle between equals.
“This is a catastrophic error because what we’re dealing with is a regime that kills the people each time they take to the streets to protest. All protests end because the regime and its defense groups fire upon the demonstrators.”
The Necessary Support of Trump
She sees it as erroneous not to have emphasized Venezuela’s need for Donald Trump’s administration to resolve the tragedy plaguing the country.
“If anyone can understand what the Venezuelan regime means, it is Donald Trump, primarily because it cost him the 2020 nomination. This is a topic not addressed in Venezuela; it’s taboo, but he had the elections stolen from him, which is closely related to the expertise developed in Venezuela.”
She notes that Nicolás Maduro felt secure during Joe Biden’s administration because he knew this issue would never be tackled by that administration.
The Importance of Resources
She also considers it positive that MCM recognized Elon Musk’s role in providing the Skylink—an interface or transmission system—an essential technological aid that allowed the preservation of voting records from July 28, 2024, in the cloud, to subsequently showcase and demonstrate the electoral fraud and lack of transparency in the presidential elections in Venezuela.
Thus, Adriana Vigilanza García emphasizes negatively that María Corina Machado dismissed the necessity of resources to develop strategies that facilitate the exit from Chavismo. “She didn’t consider that she was speaking to a different audience when she said that we don’t even need resources to get rid of Chavismo. Yes, we do need resources.”
Threat to the U.S.
Adriana Vigilanza sees it positively, in addition to the assessment of Maduro’s regime made by María Corina Machado, to label it a criminal sanctuary, highlighting the danger it presents to the U.S. as Venezuela became a safe haven for international terrorism and organized crime.
She emphasizes that it was important to point this out, though the U.S. is already aware, recalling that William Barr, Attorney General during Trump’s first term, filed criminal charges for drug trafficking and money laundering against Nicolás Maduro in March 2020 and offered a reward of USD 15 million for his capture.
U.S. intelligence was aware of Maduro’s actions, his agreements with drug trafficking and FARC, which included, among other things, training for Chavista collectives, which are essentially paramilitary forces.
The fact that MCM mentioned these incidents in the interview by stating that Maduro’s regime participates in drug trafficking was beneficial, although she didn’t do so with the necessary strength it required. “When describing a situation like the one we are analyzing, it is evident that we need decisive action.”
The Contradiction of MCM
Vigilanza found it contradictory that María Corina Machado declared that Nicolás Maduro’s regime is a criminal and not a political one that thus should be dealt with and dismantled like criminal organizations, while at the same time stating that the country does not need military boots’ help.
She points out that although it is understood that due to her covert status within Venezuela, MCM could not openly mention military intervention, there are ways to phrase things and request the assistance that Venezuela requires.
Additionally, Vigilanza García highlights the dissonant fact in the interview where María Corina Machado referred to Venezuela’s future in freedom without explaining how to achieve it and discussed a peaceful transition that is utterly illogical in the presence of a criminal regime like Maduro’s that she herself described. “We have tried every approach and we cannot do it alone. I think she lacked the emphasis on that point that we cannot do this alone.”
Vigilanza emphasized that when Chávez warned that if the revolution could not be maintained peacefully it would be done through arms, it is essential to recognize that Venezuela is in the latter scenario, for it is arms that hold Nicolás Maduro in power.
See more details in Sin Filtros “The Redefinition of the Board vs. Ambiguity”: