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Venezuela's opposition leader: Maduro's regime "is not a conventional dictatorship
"This is not a conventional dictatorship. Venezuela has been turned into the criminal hub of the Americas." Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado warns that under Nicolás Maduro, the country has become a haven for drug cartels and terrorist groups. "Networks of smuggling, even women and children being used for prostitution—this is dramatic," she says, emphasizing that Venezuela’s deepening ties to transnational crime threaten the entire Western Hemisphere.
Machado argues that stopping Maduro requires more than diplomacy—it demands cutting off the regime’s illicit revenue streams. She points to the recent revocation of US oil sanctions relief as proof that international pressure is working. "That's precisely what's starting to happen right now," she notes, adding that fractures within Maduro’s power structure are emerging. But she insists more must be done: "Those that today torture, disappear, and kill Venezuelans must get it very clear that they will be held accountable." For Machado, the goal is not just to weaken Maduro but to push for a peaceful, democratic transition.
Watch full episode: Can Venezuela's opposition leader unseat Nicolás Maduro?
GZERO World with Ian Bremmer, the award-winning weekly global affairs series, airs nationwide on US public television stations (check local listings).
New digital episodes of GZERO World are released every Monday on YouTube. Don't miss an episode: subscribe to GZERO's YouTube channel and turn on notifications (🔔).GZERO World with Ian Bremmer airs on US public television weekly - check local listings.
Has China lost patience with Venezuela's Maduro regime?
China once poured untold billions into Venezuela’s oil industry, but opposition leader María Corina Machado says that era is over. “China was producing around 70,000 barrels a day in Venezuela in 2016. Today, that's less than 40,000,” she tells Ian Bremmer on GZERO World. The reason? “China does not want to deal with a profoundly corrupt, inept tyranny such as Maduro. They know him very well.” She argues that fears of China stepping in to rescue Maduro are misplaced; Beijing has already learned its lesson.
For investors, Venezuela is a dead zone. “Would you lend to a country that ranks literally last in the world for rule of law?” Machado asks, citing the World Justice Project’s assessment of 142 nations. Despite holding the world’s largest oil reserves, Venezuela’s economy remains in ruins because, as she puts it, "you cannot develop resources under communism, crime, and dictatorship." But she insists that Venezuela is ready for change: “We know what we have to do in the first 100 days—guarantee security, restore basic services, and open markets.” The country, she says, is waiting for its chance to rebuild.
Watch full episode: Can Venezuela's opposition leader unseat Nicolás Maduro?
GZERO World with Ian Bremmer, the award-winning weekly global affairs series, airs nationwide on US public television stations (check local listings).
New digital episodes of GZERO World are released every Monday on YouTube. Don't miss an episode: subscribe to GZERO's YouTube channel and turn on notifications (🔔).GZERO World with Ian Bremmer airs on US public television weekly - check local listings.
Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado greets supporters at a protest ahead of the Friday inauguration of President Nicolas Maduro for his third term, in Caracas, Venezuela January 9, 2025.
Venezuela briefly arrests opposition leader just ahead of Maduro inauguration
Regime forces violently detained Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado as she left a rally in Caracas on Thursday, just one day before strongman President Nicolás Maduro was set to begin his third term. She was released hours later.
Machado had been in hiding for over 100 days but came out to galvanize protesters risking their lives to demonstrate against the illegitimate, autocratic government. Despite soldiers loyal to the regime manning checkpoints across the capital, thousands of citizens marched in response to the opposition’s calls for resistance. Moments before her motorcycle convoy came under gunfire, Machado led a crowd of supporters chanting, “We are not afraid!”
Her short detention could lead to further protests, but Maduro is determined to retain power for another six-year term and is set to be sworn in today. He has met past unrest with brutal violence, and we are watching for more clashes between authorities and protesters, though the government has detained many activists and opposition politicians in recent days. The government says it will also arrestEdmundo González, the man who independent audits show actually won last year’s election, if he attempts to return from exile in the Dominican Republic — which he has sworn to do today.
FILE PHOTO: Afghan women walk after the recent earthquake in the district of Zinda Jan, in Herat, Afghanistan October 10, 2023.
Hard Numbers: Iran suspected of killing Afghan migrants, Meta busts lunch scheme, Venezuela jails more foreigners, US and NATO mark a decade of fighting ISIS
2 million: The United Nations has called for an investigation into reports that Iran’s security forces opened fire last weekend on roughly 200 Afghan migrants who had entered the country illegally, killing an unknown number of them. Iran has threatened to deport as many as 2 million undocumented Afghan migrants who live in the country as refugees from decades of war and famine in their home country.
25: There’s no free lunch, they say – but if there were, you certainly shouldn’t use the money to buy acne treatment pads, wine glasses, or laundry detergent. Meta has fired around two dozen employees in its Los Angeles office after they were caught using the company’s $25 meal allowances to purchase household items.
5: Venezuela has arrested five foreigners, including three Americans, on charges of terrorism. Since winning a heavily disputed election this summer, President Nicolas Maduro has cracked down on the opposition, accusing it of collaborating with foreign intelligence operatives. The recent arrests bring to 12 the number of foreigners detained in Venezuela.
10: The US and NATO allies on Thursday marked 10 years since the start of their campaign to defeat Islamic State, often referred to as “ISIS.” On the plus side, the terror organization was rooted out of its modern “caliphate” strongholds in Syria and Iraq. On the minus side, it has shown a growing presence and capability in the Sahel, where some local governments are pushing out Western forces, and Central Asia, where Islamic State is at war with the Taliban in Afghanistan and has managed to carry out attacks in Russia.
Carolina Gonzalez, daughter of Venezuela's presidential opposition candidate in the recent election Edmundo Gonzalez, leaves the Torrejon de Ardoz Air Force Base, outside Madrid, Spain, September 8, 2024.
Opposition leader flees Venezuela, Argentina heads to ICC
Venezuelan opposition candidate Edmundo Gonzalez fled to Madrid on a Spanish military aircraft Sunday, having spent a month in hiding following the country’swidely discredited July 28 election in which President Nicolas Maduro claimed a dubious victory.
Spain offered Gonzalez asylum after Venezuelan prosecutors sought his arrest Monday for conspiracy and criminal association, which carry a possible 30-year prison sentence. The charges stem from the uploading of voting records showing that Gonzalez, and not Maduro, won the election by nearly 70%.
Gonzalez was a stand-in for opposition leader Maria Corina Machado, who had been barred from running. His departure is the latest blow to the Venezuelan opposition: Since the vote, 2,400 protesters and four prominent opposition politicians have been arrested, and Maduro recently appointed hardliner Diosdado Cabello, who called Gonzalez“a coup-mongering “rat” as interior minister.
The election shenanigans are also causing tension with Argentina. Late Friday,Venezuelan security forces surrounded the Argentinian embassy in Caracas, where six opposition workers have been holed up since March. The following day, Venezuelarevoked permission for Brazil to manage the embassy, as it had been doing since the expulsion of Argentinian diplomats earlier this year.The announcement came hours after Argentina announced thaton Monday it would ask the International Criminal Court to arrest Maduro on charges of crimes against humanity.
We’ll be watching how the court reacts – and whether Maduro cracks down further.
A demonstrator looks on during a protest against election results that awarded Venezuela's President Nicolas Maduro with a third term, in Caracas, Venezuela, August 3, 2024.
Will Maduro yield amid protests and calls for transparency?
Seven EU member states on Sunday demanded that the Venezuelan government publish the electoral rolls to settle last weekend’s heavily disputed election, and the US and Argentina have taken the lead in recognizing opposition candidate Edmundo González as president. Thousands of Venezuelans have put their lives and freedom at risk to protest President Nicolás Maduro’s claimed electoral victory this past week,and the regime has arrested hundreds and deployed armed paramilitaries to intimidate them.
Human Rights Watch reports that 17 people have died since protests broke out last Monday.
Gonzalez is in hiding to protect his well-being. But Maria Corina Machado, a fellow opposition leader who was barred from running, held a defiant rally on Saturday to galvanize the demonstrators. “After six days of brutal repression, they thought they were going to silence us, intimidate or paralyze us,” she said. “The presence of every one of you here today represents the best of Venezuela.”
Her coalition collected electoral tally sheets from 80% of the precincts, and they showed a landslide victory for the opposition, with 6.89 million votes for Gonzalez and 3.13 million for Maduro. Venezuela’s government claimed Maduro won 6.4 million votes to Gonzalez’s 5.3 million.
What happens now? Brazil, Colombia, and Mexico are leading diplomatic efforts to set up an impartial audit of the results, and they can count on wide backing in the Americas and Europe. We’re watching how they apply pressure this week, and whether Caracas might make agreeable noises, if only to try to calm the furor in the streets.
A Venezuelan opposition supporter reacts after the results of the presidential election, outside Venezuela's Embassy in Mexico City, Mexico, July 28, 2024.
Maduro declares victory in Venezuela, opposition cries fraud
Venezuela’s strongman President Nicolás Maduro declared victory in the country’s hotly contested election on Monday, claiming to have won 51% of the vote despite independent exit polls showing a landslide for the opposition. Maria Corina Machado, Maduro’s chief rival, whom he banned from standing, said data collected by volunteers in polling places showed her candidate, Edmundo González, trouncing Maduro with 70% of the vote.
Election day. People began lining up at 3 a.m. in some parts of the capital Caracas on Sunday, anxious to cast their ballots in what many saw as their last best chance to restore the democratic process in Venezuela.
Media reports were tightly controlled, but some voters told CNN Español that they faced intimidation by militants. Citizens who attempted to enter government buildings to observe vote counting found themselves blocked by men on motorcycles donning red clothing and shouting pro-Maduro slogans.
What happens now? Machado said the opposition would fight to “defend the truth” and called on the international community to reject the results, but she stopped short of calling for protests. The presidents of Peru, Chile, Guatemala, Costa Rica, Argentina, and Uruguay all condemned or cast doubt on Maduro’s claimed victory, and US Secretary of State Antony Blinken called for official vote tabulations to be published.
We are watching how Venezuelan voters react, and whether the international community can heap pressure on the Maduro regime — particularly given his dark warnings of a “bloodbath” and “civil war” if he is forced from office.
For more on Venezuela’s election, check out GZERO’s Viewpoint interview with Eurasia Group expert Risa Grais-Targowhere.Venezuelans gather to demonstrate during Venezuela's election voting day in Bogota, Colombia, July 28, 2024.
Venezuelans head to the polls as Maduro warns of a “bloodbath”
Venezuelans are voting in make-or-break elections as President Nicolás Madurotrails behind opposition leader Edmundo González by up to 30 percentage points in some polls. González – a retired diplomat who stepped in after the most popular opposition leader Maria Corina Machado was barred – might be the country’s best chance to restore democracy.
The background: Maduro’s 11 years in power have been marred with economic instability so severe as to cause mass malnutrition, violent political crackdowns, and America’s worst migration crisis in history. Over 7 million Venezuelans have fled repression and starvation since 2015. Maduro, currently under investigation by the ICC for alleged crimes against humanity, has led Venezuela to “the single largest economic collapse for a non-conflict country in almost half a century” according to the IMF.
How has he stayed in power? In past elections, Maduro has kept the crown by barring and jailing challengers – and using his thugs to intimidate voters. His actions have been met by US sanctions, and the last election was deemed illegitimate by the US, Canada, and 14 other countries.
Polls show an undeniable truth Maduro seems unwilling to accept: He cannot beat González in a free and fair election. This leaves Maduro – who most analysts presume will resist a peaceful transition of power – two options: mass electoral fraud and political crackdowns or making good on his warnings of a “bloodbath” and “civil war” if he loses. So far at least, the government has not reported any unrest at polling places.
For more on Venezuela’s election, check out GZERO’s Viewpoint interview with Eurasia Group expert Risa Grais-Targowhere.