Machado says that Petro should seek peace in Colombia and not promote violence in Venezuela

Caracas .- Nobel Peace Prize winner María Corina Machado stated this Friday that the Colombian president, Gustavo Petro, should focus on seeking peace for his nation instead of «promoting violence» in Venezuela, after the president declared he was against the return of the Venezuelan leader to her homeland.

«I recommend Mr. Petro to focus on seeking peace in Colombia, and not on promoting violence in Venezuela», declared the leader in statements to the media in Madrid, published on Instagram by her political team, after holding a meeting in the Spanish capital with the leader of the Vox party, Santiago Abascal. Questioned about Petro's statements, Machado asserted that Venezuelans want to overcome "the years of violence of Chavismo" through the electoral route, with "clean and free" elections in which the entire population can participate. «What we are proposing, those of us who won an election, those of us who are the elected government, is to have clean and free elections where everyone participates. What is the fear?», he declared. In his opinion, "respect for the Constitution and popular sovereignty" is the "only way" to guarantee stability, order, peace, prosperity, and the return of migrants to Venezuela.

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«There are some who seek to maintain a status quo that guarantees privileges, impunity, and we represent, precisely, the end of privileges and the end of impunity», he added.

The Clash Between Machado and Petro

When asked about Petro's comment, who earlier stated that there is "a great fear" in the Venezuelan population due to a "political vendetta" that could be carried out against the opposition if they return to the country, Machado considered that this statement "sounds like a threat" from the Colombian president. "I trust Venezuelans. Mr. Petro should not be alerting, threatening, or inciting violence in our country," he emphasized. Machado is visiting Spain, where he held meetings with several political leaders, including Abascal and the main leader of the Spanish opposition, Alberto Núñez Feijóo; he also plans to meet with former Spanish presidents Felipe González, Mariano Rajoy and José María Aznar.

However, he does not plan to meet with the current Spanish government president, Pedro Sánchez. This Friday, in his intervention in ‘Los Desayunos’ of RTVE and EFE, the Colombian president proposed the convenience of the chavismo and the opposition forming a «cogovernance» for «one or two years» to generate trust in the population, at the same time he advanced that he will visit Caracas on April 24 to meet with the acting president, Delcy Rodríguez.