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Lacalle Puu endorses Machado ahead of Sunday election
Lacalle praises Venezuelan people’s courage at this moment
Uruguayan President Luis Lacalle Puu held talks with Venezuelan leader Maria Corina Machado hours before Sunday’s presidential election that could end Nicolás Maduro’s regime.
Machado posted on X: “I just spoke with the President of Uruguay @LuisLacallePou and I thank him for his permanent support and solidarity in our struggle for democracy and freedom.” She added on the @MariaCorinaYA account: “A few hours before 28J, he confirmed to me his commitment to the values that unite us and expressed to me his admiration… (…)” In addition, he praised “the Venezuelans for setting a great example of civic courage to the world”.
“Your commitment and efforts to the Venezuelan cause are admirable,” the multi-colored incumbent president responded. “We have repeatedly stressed: free elections, respect for human rights and full democracy.”
Racalle, who took over the rotating presidency of Mercosur on July 8, noted: “We all have different views on the Venezuelan government, some consider it a dictatorship, others do not. But in order to help and cooperate, I think some countries here can do a lot for the benefit of the people in the electoral process, and hopefully the winner is the one who must win. Everyone’s heart will tell us the answer.”
On February 1, just after Machado was banned from running, Lacalle Puu said that under these circumstances, Venezuela’s elections would not be “free and democratic” because her suppression showed Venezuela’s “unwillingness” to make elections transparent.
Earlier this week, Uruguayan Foreign Minister Omar Paganini expressed his government’s concerns about the process that is about to unfold in Venezuela, while numerous events have raised doubts about whether Maduro intends to recognize the results.
“It is enough to listen to the government’s statements, they say if they lose there will be a bloodbath,” stressed Pagani, with similar messages echoed by Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva and Chilean President Gabriel Borick Fonte.
But this time is different from previous elections because “we are seeing people mobilized and hopeful about change.”
Machado, who was deprived of his right to vote for judicial reasons, supports the candidacy of 74-year-old former diplomat Edmundo Gonález Urrutia on behalf of the Democratic Unity Platform (PUD) coalition.
“Next Sunday’s elections, with the presence of exiles, political prisoners, harassment of the opposition and the disqualification of the main opposition candidate, María Corina Machado, do not guarantee a democratic process,” signed a joint statement by Uruguayan presidential candidate and former aide to Lacalle P. Álvaro Delgado and other candidates of the ruling Multicolor League. Also signing the statement were Andrés Ojeda (Colorado Party), Guido Manini Rios (Municipal Open Party) and Pablo Mirez (Independence Party).
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