Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado said she is in hiding and that she fears for her freedom and for her life, in an op-ed published on Thursday in the Wall Street Journal.
Machado, who is the main force behind the presidential candidacy of former ambassador Edmundo González, emphasized that Venezuelan strongman Nicolás Maduro lost Sunday’s election and that she can prove it.
“I write this from hiding, fearing for my life, my freedom and that of my fellow countrymen under the dictatorship of Nicolás Maduro,” Machado wrote in an editorial titled: I can prove that Maduro got trounced.
“Mr. Maduro did not win the Venezuelan presidential election on Sunday. He lost by a landslide to Edmundo González, 67% to 30%. I know this to be true because I can prove it. I have receipts obtained directly from more than 80% of the country’s polling stations.”
Machado has not been seen for 24 hours.
I’d be slightly surprised if her numbers were accurate. Although idk what the sentiment has been like since she was barred from running. Maybe it really did inspire voters to turn out
What I understand is that in Venezuela you can ask for a voting “receipt” to know the results for the station where you voted (done electronically) so if you’ve got enough of those you can tell if the public numbers are real or not.
Those receipts never got released by the government but the opposition acquired enough of them to prove that the results are fake.