WASHINGTON — Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado told Senate Foreign Relations Chairman Ben Cardin on Wednesday that support from the United States is a “moral reference” for those protesting the government of President Nicolás Maduro, according to a summary of the call obtained first by NBC News.
“Every time you speak out, it reaches us and gives us strength to move ahead, and we know we are not alone,” Machado said to Cardin, D-Md. A bipartisan group of senators, including Cardin, issued a joint statement supporting the opposition before the classified call took place Wednesday.
Machado went into hiding in Venezuela after Maduro was declared the winner of the July 28 presidential election, despite mounting evidence gathered by the opposition from polling locations that they say prove opposition candidate and Machado ally Edmundo González defeated him.
González, 75, has been recognized by the U.S. and many others in the international community as Venezuela’s president-elect even though the National Electoral Council, which is stacked with members of Maduro’s ruling party, has upheld his victory.
González, who ran in Machado’s place because her candidacy was banned, sought asylum in Spain on Sunday — one week after Venezuelan authorities issued a warrant for his arrest.
He was charged with publishing the opposition’s tally of the ballots and insisting that he was the rightful victor over Maduro, among other alleged offenses. Maduro party officials have accused the opposition of promoting violence, among other claims.
The call with Cardin was the first time Machado has spoken with a U.S. official since González’ exile.
“I want to reassure you that we will not surrender, this fight is until the end, regardless of what they do to us — we won’t stop,” Machado told Cardin from an undisclosed location.
In a statement after the call, the senator said he emphasized to Machado that “while Maduro may try to crush” her hope, “the world’s democracies will not stand idly by.”
”Above all, my main message to Ms. Machado was clear: The United States proudly stands with her, and we will continue to fight by her side for a free and democratic Venezuela,” Cardin added.
Thousands of people, including children, have protested in Venezuela in the weeks after the election.
Maduro’s government has responded to the largely peaceful demonstrations with “widespread human rights violations against protesters, bystanders, opposition leaders, and critics,” according to a report from Human Rights Watch. The global watchdog last week implicated Venezuelan security forces and pro-government gangs in some of the 24 protest-related killings that it says have taken place.
Despite that, and the exile of González, Machado insisted that her opposition campaign is still strong and reiterated that Venezuelans are united.
Nearly 8 million Venezuelans have left the country since 2014, the largest exodus in Latin America’s recent history, according to the U.N. Refugee Agency.
“If all Venezuelans that are abroad or young people that were not allowed to register had voted, the result would have been 90 to 10,” against Maduro, Machado said on the call. “Imagine what this means: This is a whole country together, fighting for freedom and for bringing our kids back home, senator.”
