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She became the candidate that united Venezuela’s opposition.
She was then barred from running but still she campaigned and selected a stand-in to be on the ballot for her.
And on election day, together with her allies, they managed to get paper proof of how they had beat Maduro’s regime by an ample margin
It was a brilliant move.
In the face of the overwhelming evidence, many nations showed their support by rightly calling Maduro’s claim of victory illegal.
But Maduro and cronies refuse to budge.
They have given up any appearance of legality in the interest of remaining in power.
They govern because the military is — so far — an accomplice lending them full support.
But there’s no question the majority of voters chose Machado over Maduro by a wide margin.
Nicolas Maduro can dress himself in the colors of the Venezuelan flag as he likes to do but the majority of Venezuelans know it is a farce. He is not their elected president.
Facing an arrest order, Edmundo Gonzalez, the former diplomat who came out of retirement to stand in for Machado and won the election, has chosen to go into exile in Spain.
Machado then made the hero’s choice. In effect saying, ‘We won the elections. The majority of Venezuelans believed in what we stood for. So I am choosing to stay here in my land to fight for the dignity and freedom of our people.’
Machado is saying to Venezuelans, ‘I’m staying in my country, because we…
