Venezuela: Marina Corina Machado’s Office Attacked & Robbed

Photograph showing opposition leader Maria Corina Machado at a campaign event on July 17, 2024 in Guanare, Venezueka. She is now in hiding after the government threatens to arrest her. Photo – EFE

By Efecto Cucuyo

HAVANA TIMES – The Vente Venezuela party reported this Friday that armed and hooded individuals attacked and took equipment from the office of María Corina Machado, the leader of the Venezuelan opposition, and the national campaign headquarters of @ConVzlaComando.

At 3 a.m. this Friday, August 2, according to the post by Vente Venezuela on their social network, six men with covered faces and firearms overpowered the guards at the El Bejucal estate, located in a residential area in the east of Caracas.

The report states that the guards were threatened by these individuals, who then “vandalized, broke doors, and took equipment and documents” from the command center headquarters.

“We denounce the assault and insecurity we are subjected to for political reasons and alert the world to the protection of our members.”

Maria Corina Machado had gone into hiding

This attack comes just hours after Maria Corina Machado, the opposition leader and chief spokesperson for the campaign to elect Edmundo Gonzalez, went into hiding, where she insisted that Nicolas Maduro was “overwhelmingly defeated” and has the evidence to prove it.

“I have the tally sheets obtained directly from more than 80% of the polling stations in the country. We knew that Mr. Maduro’s government would cheat. We have known for years what tricks the regime uses, and we know perfectly well that the National Electoral Council is entirely under its control…,” she stated in an article published this Thursday in The Wall Street Journal.

Following the protests over the stealing of the election, repressed by security forces and the National Guard, the government proceeded to carry out over a thousand arrests against opposition leaders and many of those who participated.

“We have seen firsthand how there are mass arrests of people, 40 or 50 people, taken at the same time, even worse than in previous protests (…) There is a widespread detention of opposition members leading to a massive capture of individuals,” stated Juanita Goebertus, director of the Americas Division of Human Rights Watch, on the program Con La Luz.

Read more news here on Havana Times.