We want elections where everyone can vote, elections that correct the perversion
En una sala de Panamá, María Corina Machado —Premio Nobel de la Paz 2025— pronunció una promesa condicionada: competirá por la presidencia de Venezuela, pero solo cuando las elecciones sean verdaderamente libres. Su declaración no es solo una candidatura, sino el horizonte de un proceso más largo que busca devolver a millones de venezolanos —dentro y fuera del país— su derecho a decidir el destino de una nación que lleva décadas atrapada entre el fraude y el exilio.
- Machado anunció su candidatura presidencial desde el exterior, condicionándola a la existencia de un sistema electoral limpio e independiente, lo que subraya cuán lejos está Venezuela de ese umbral.
- Cerca de cuatro a cinco millones de venezolanos registrados en el exterior no pudieron votar el 28 de julio de 2024, una exclusión masiva que la oposición considera la herida central de la democracia venezolana.
- El plan de tres fases respaldado por Estados Unidos —desmantelar la represión, recuperar la economía y convocar elecciones genuinas— avanza con señales concretas: presos políticos liberados aparecieron junto a Machado como evidencia de que algo está cediendo.
- La oposición exige un Consejo Electoral Nacional sin afiliaciones partidistas y condiciones reales de libertad cívica antes de cualquier proceso electoral, rechazando la posibilidad de repetir el mecanismo corrupto que ya conocen.
- Machado prevé regresar a Venezuela antes de finales de 2026, en coordinación con Washington, para fortalecer el proceso y preparar lo que ella llama la cuarta fase: la reconstrucción del país.
María Corina Machado habló desde Panamá un sábado de mayo con la claridad de quien ha esperado mucho tiempo. La líder opositora venezolana, galardonada con el Premio Nobel de la Paz en 2025, anunció que se presentará como candidata presidencial —pero solo cuando Venezuela cuente con elecciones genuinamente libres y justas. Mientras tanto, dijo, el camino exige trabajo previo.
Ese camino tiene nombre: un plan de tres fases impulsado con respaldo estadounidense. La primera apunta a desmantelar la maquinaria represiva del Estado; la segunda, a la recuperación económica; la tercera, a una elección real. Machado habló de estas etapas como procesos ya en marcha, señalando la presencia de ex presos políticos a su lado como prueba de que el sistema de control empieza a resquebrajarse.
Para que esa elección sea legítima, Machado fijó condiciones concretas: un Consejo Electoral Nacional cuyos miembros no tengan afiliación partidista, y libertades cívicas básicas —moverse, organizarse, hablar— que hoy no existen en Venezuela. Cuando le preguntaron cuánto tiempo tomaría, no ofreció fechas. Solo señaló la diferencia entre lo posible y lo deseable: con el sistema actual, una elección podría organizarse en sesenta días. Pero eso no es lo que buscan.
Lo que buscan incluye a los cuatro o cinco millones de venezolanos registrados que viven fuera del país y que no pudieron votar el 28 de julio de 2024. Casi el cuarenta por ciento del electorado quedó excluido. La oposición considera que una elección verdadera es aquella que devuelve esas voces al proceso democrático.
Machado elogió el marco de tres fases del secretario de Estado Marco Rubio y describió a Estados Unidos como el principal aliado de la oposición. Sobre su propio regreso a Venezuela, expresó confianza en que ocurrirá antes de finales de 2026, coordinado con Washington, con un propósito claro: fortalecer el plan y preparar lo que ella llama la cuarta fase, la reconstrucción del país. No dijo cuándo exactamente. Solo que sería pronto, y que cada cosa ocurriría en su momento.
María Corina Machado sat in Panama on a Saturday in May, speaking to a room of listeners about the future of her country. The Venezuelan opposition leader, freshly awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2025, had come to make a declaration: she would run for president. But not yet. Not under the current system, which she described as corrupt, fraudulent, and rigged. Only when Venezuela held elections that were genuinely free and fair would she step forward as a candidate—and she welcomed others to do the same.
Machado's statement came as part of a larger political architecture being constructed with American backing. The opposition coalition that had won the July 2024 presidential election—with Edmundo González as the elected president—understood that the three-phase plan being pushed by the United States needed to culminate in a real presidential contest. The first phase focused on dismantling the repressive machinery of the state. The second involved economic recovery. The third would be the election itself. Machado spoke of these phases as though they were already in motion, pointing to the presence of freed political prisoners at her side as evidence that the system of control was beginning to crack.
But before any election could happen, something fundamental had to change. Machado laid out what she saw as the essential first step: the creation of a National Electoral Council that actually met the standards written into Venezuela's constitution. The members would need credibility. They would need to have no political party affiliation. From there, she said, you would need the conditions for civic freedom—the ability to move, to organize, to speak. These were not small things in Venezuela.
When asked how long this would take, Machado did not offer a timeline. Instead, she offered a thought experiment. If they were to hold elections using the existing machinery—the same corrupt, fraudulent system that had governed the country—they could organize it in sixty days. But that was not what they wanted. They wanted elections where everyone could vote. They wanted to correct the perversion baked into the current structure.
That last point mattered because roughly four to five million Venezuelans registered to vote were living outside the country. Nearly forty percent of the Venezuelan electorate had been unable to cast ballots on July 28, 2024. Some had fled the country. Some had been prevented from voting. The opposition saw a genuine election as one that would include these millions of voices, bringing them back into the democratic process after years of exclusion.
Machado spoke warmly of American support for the Venezuelan cause, and specifically praised the three-phase framework laid out by Secretary of State Marco Rubio. She contrasted this with what she called the false solidarity of the interim government led by Delcy Rodríguez, which she suggested was merely following Washington's instructions rather than genuinely committed to change. A free Venezuela, Machado argued, would be a reliable long-term ally for the United States—not a temporary partner of convenience.
On her own return to Venezuela, Machado expressed confidence it would happen before the end of 2026. She described it as coordinated with the Americans, who she called the opposition's principal allies. Her return, she said, would have a purpose: to strengthen Rubio's three-phase plan and to prepare for what she called the fourth phase—the reconstruction of the country itself. She did not say exactly when she would go home, only that it would be soon, and that everything would happen in its proper moment.
Citações Notáveis
I will be a candidate, but there could be others. I would love to compete with everyone, with anyone who wants to be a candidate. We will have clean and free elections.— María Corina Machado
The most urgent thing would be the appointment of a National Electoral Council that meets the criteria established in the Venezuelan constitution, made up of members with credibility and no political affiliation.— María Corina Machado
A Conversa do Hearth Outra perspectiva sobre a história
When she says she'll run in 'clean and free' elections, is she actually confident those will happen? Or is this a statement of principle?
Both, I think. She's naming a condition that doesn't exist yet—that's the principle. But she's also speaking as though the machinery to create those conditions is already turning. The freed prisoners at her side aren't symbolic; they're evidence, in her mind, that the repressive system is actually coming apart.
The sixty-day comment is interesting. Why mention that at all?
It's a way of saying: we could do this quickly if we wanted to cut corners. But we're not going to. We're going to do it right, even if it takes longer. It's a rebuke to the idea that speed and legitimacy are the same thing.
Four to five million Venezuelans abroad—that's a huge number. Why does she emphasize that so much?
Because they're the people the current system has already excluded. Including them isn't just about fairness; it's about the opposition's actual math. Those millions could shift the outcome. But more than that, it's about saying: we're going to count everyone this time.
She keeps mentioning coordination with the U.S. Does that weaken her position domestically?
That's the tension she's navigating. She needs American backing to make this happen. But she also has to convince Venezuelans that she's not just an American proxy. So she frames it as alignment, not subordination—we want the same thing, and they're helping us get there.
What's the fourth phase she mentions—reconstruction?
That's her vision of what comes after the election. The first three phases are about clearing away the old system and restoring democratic process. The fourth is about actually rebuilding the country. It's her way of saying: this isn't just about removing someone from power. It's about what we build next.