If María Corina Machado listens to anyone—the leader chosen by the Venezuelan opposition in the last primary elections—and, by far, the most popular politician in the country—it is Carlos Blanco.
But not now, but for more than 20 years.
An economist and consultant, Blanco is an experienced politician without partisan militancy, minister in the second Government of Carlos Andrés Pérez, professor at the Central University of Venezuela and Boston University.
He has directed media outlets, is the author of two books and is a tireless opinion columnist.
He was one of the brains of the
decentralization process
”, the last test that Venezuelan democracy made to improve its management by federalizing public management.
Since Machado became a public figure in 2004, the two have formed a seamless alliance.
Blanco is one of the architects of the differentiating strategy that Machado has maintained against the rest of the opposition.
“We are witnessing the realization of the worst nightmares we could have harbored about the fate and evolution of the Maduro regime,” he says.
“His government is in a very complicated situation, but that circumstance has caused repression to expand.”
Ask.
Why is Maduro's situation complicated?
Answer.
He has lost a lot of popular support.
Maduro is not Chávez, he never had his leadership and talent.
Many Chavistas have abandoned the regime;
middle cadres of the PSUV have also deserted.
Furthermore, there is brutal international isolation.
There is the international defeat in the face of the failed Essequibo referendum, which distanced them from Caricom;
the silence of Cuba, Brazil and Colombia.
The repressive wave began in December, and worsened after the exchange of prisoners that released Alex Saab from prison, whose last link is having put Rocío San Miguel in prison.
Q.
Then came the decision to expel the United Nations representatives from the country.
A.
This isolation has not eased the repression, but it adds derision to the scandal I describe.
Q.
Does María Corina Machado have tools to face a challenge like this?
A.
The fundamental tool in our case is not to change horses in the middle of the river.
The goal is to achieve free and honest elections.
Chavismo always boasted of holding elections, it mocked the opposition because “it had no people.”
Now they are fleeing the election.
The democratic forces have appropriated the electoral demand.
Secondly, Maduro always complained that the opposition does not want to negotiate, that the radicals do, that the opposition is serious.
What we are asking of Maduro is that, dialogue.
Q.
Are conversations ongoing with these latest actions by Chavismo?
Have the political actors still not left the table?
A.
Well, there are many tables here.
There are several trading centers.
What I can say is that the movement led by María Corina is ready to negotiate with the regime.
Q.
You, and Machado, have always been reluctant to negotiate with Chavismo and participate in elections on its terms.
What difference is there between these circumstances and those of the past?
A.
The Venezuelan democratic movement was very hopeful with the emergence of Juan Guaidó and the interim presidency in 2019, which had enormous support from the international community.
Thanks to the contradictions of those who directed that process, that experience came to an end.
The primaries were called to elect a new leader.
Here we are in the presence of a development from below, legitimized in a massive popular consultation.
Q.
What would be the most notable thing about those primary elections?
A.
The behavior of the citizens, the enormous maturity of that initiative.
Not a police officer, not a soldier, not law enforcement brigades, nothing.
The citizens participated and understood what their duty was, there was not a single incident and everything went perfectly.
In the midst of enormous adversity, there is enormous civic spirit in Venezuela.
Q.
There are people who think that Machado does not yet have formal control of the opposition bodies, nor the collaboration of all its sectors.
A.
I wouldn't say that, I don't think it's about control.
It is about the internal currents of the democratic country, which are the absolute majority, recognizing her, and that has been happening.
Most of the opposition's political and social organizations work with it.
We must give content to the horizon of the Grand National Alliance, beyond the classic approaches of the parties.
In the regions of the country this happens very naturally.
The other, fundamental element is the construction of the so-called 600k, the 600,000 citizens summoned to the network to defend the vote, their preparation and training.
The unit is not a starting point, it is an intermediate station.
We have some differences that were settled in the primaries, María Corina got 94 percent of the votes.
Q.
Isn't the date of the presidential election a fundamental issue in this candidacy, which until now has not been admitted?
R.
Now Maduro pretends to discuss that issue in the National Assembly.
For the elections we are talking about, the legitimate ones, there are no dates.
The moment there are, everything will move in the direction of their defeat.
Q.
This means that, if María Corina Machado is a candidate, it is because there has been an internal break in Chavismo that makes it possible.
A.
For a long time we have worked with the impossible in the fight against Chavismo, and many impossible things suddenly become possible.
This is not a cliché.
Such dramatically pronounced situations make the political forecast very complex.
It happens in many areas of knowledge, but in current Venezuelan times, it happens more quickly.
What happens today cannot be taken as a parameter of what will happen in the coming months.
The end of disqualification and free elections are the same thing.
The Barbados agreement is signed on the basis of that reality.
5 days after the agreement was signed, María Corina Machado was overwhelmingly elected, to the surprise of the Chavista government.
She is the repository of a sacred popular mandate.
If the candidate is not her, the elections are not free.
Q.
This means that a delegated, alternate candidacy, an option like that of the state of Barinas in 2021, is not possible for you.
A.
No, that does not exist.
María Corina did not win that candidacy in the raffle for a box of soap.
The option of her resigning her candidacy is not acceptable.
It is a decision according to which one can dispose, as if it were anything else, of a popular mandate that was assigned to him by a very large majority.
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