Feijóo calls for “free elections” in Venezuela with an “explicit timetable” before Corina Machado

Eduardo González Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado was received this Friday in Madrid by the president of the People's Party, Alberto Núñez Feijóo, who called for “free elections” in Venezuela with an “explicit timetable,” and “without threats, without fraud, and with guarantees.” In her response, Machado thanked Spain “for welcoming so many compatriots,” but warned that “we want them all back, including some Spaniards.” For his part, Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez stated this Friday that “the doors of the Moncloa Palace are open” to receive Corina Machado, but it was not possible on this occasion because “she considered it inappropriate.” Machado was received at the headquarters of the People's Party (PP) in Madrid as part of her visit to Spain, the highlight of which will take place this Saturday with a meeting with the Venezuelan diaspora in Madrid's Puerta del Sol. Following her meeting with Feijóo, which was attended by the PP's top leadership, the opposition leader declared that "today Venezuela is beginning a transition process in which we have great hopes," referring to the political upheaval the country has been experiencing for the past four months, after the United States' attack on Caracas, the capture of President Nicolás Maduro, and the opening of an uncertain transition process orchestrated from Washington and led in the country by the interim president, Delcy Rodríguez. This process, according to the PP leader, "is not finished, but it is irreversible and will be complete. When? When there are no more political prisoners, when fear has ended, and when Venezuelans can vote without threats, without fraud, and with guarantees," he continued. “That’s why we demand, first, that María Corina be allowed to return to Venezuela; and second, free elections with a clear timetable, and as soon as possible,” she added. “History will recognize everything you have done to this day,” declared Corina Machado. “We wouldn’t be here if it weren’t for this enormous solidarity, which is also related to your own freedom, autonomy, and sovereignty,” she continued. “Thank you to Spain, thank you for welcoming so many of our compatriots and making them feel at home. But let me tell you something: we want you all back, including some Spaniards, whom we also want with us,” she added, referring to the Spanish citizens recently released from prison and deported to Venezuela. Machado also visited opposition leader and former presidential candidate Edmundo González Urrutia (declared “President-Elect of Venezuela” by the opposition) in Madrid. He has been hospitalized for several days following surgery. “We met today and had a long conversation. There is much to coordinate, and we are working on it,” González wrote on social media. “This moment is yours, this meeting with all Venezuelans is yours, and that’s how it should be,” he added. No meeting with Sánchez For his part, Pedro Sánchez affirmed this Friday that “the doors of the Moncloa Palace are open” to Corina Machado, but, “unfortunately,” he has not been able to meet with the opposition leader because “she considered it inappropriate.” “Of course, we have offered Ms. María Corina Machado the opportunity to meet with me, the President of the Government of Spain,” but “unfortunately, we have not had the chance to have that meeting because she considered it inappropriate,” declared Pedro Sánchez during the joint press conference with the President of Brazil, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva. “In any case, the doors of the Moncloa Palace are open for us to meet with all the opposition leaders, as I have done with Edmundo González, as I have also done with Leopoldo López; in short, with all those Venezuelan opposition leaders who are, moreover, living among us thanks to a humanitarian policy, a policy of recognizing the rights of refugees to people who, unfortunately, have been persecuted there,” added Sánchez, who insisted that “the future of Venezuelans must be decided democratically by Venezuelans without foreign interference or meddling.” In statements to the COPE radio network this past Wednesday, Machado confirmed that no meeting is planned with the Prime Minister, Pedro Sánchez, or with the Minister of Foreign Affairs, José Manuel Albares, during her stay in Spain. “At certain times, meetings are appropriate, and at other times they are not, and therefore, at this moment, such a meeting is not planned,” declared the 2025 Nobel Peace Prize laureate. Last April 8, José Manuel Albares stated that if Machado requested a meeting, there would be “no problem in receiving her.” “I don’t control the Prime Minister’s schedule, but I’m sure that if she requested it, the Prime Minister wouldn’t have any problem either,” he told Radio Nacional de España. On October 10, the Norwegian Nobel Committee announced the awarding of the 2025 Nobel Peace Prize to María Corina Machado for “her tireless work in promoting the democratic rights of the Venezuelan people and for her struggle to achieve a just and peaceful transition from dictatorship to democracy.” The only reaction from the Spanish government came from the Minister of the Presidency, Félix Bolaños, who recalled that Spain “worked intensively” to ensure Corina Machado’s “release during her time in prison.” A week later, the Popular Parliamentary Group demanded that the Government express “its satisfaction” with the awarding of the 2025 Nobel Peace Prize to María Corina Machado and denounced the “shameful silence” of the Executive on this matter, which “has a face and a name: José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero”.

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