CARACAS, Venezuela: Maria Corina Machado, Venezuela’s opposition leader, disqualified by the state from running for election in July, Wednesday accused the regime of “brutal repression” after the arrest of two aides.
The officials said that the two aides conspired to incite violence.
“The regime of [President Nicolas] Maduro unleashes brutal repression against my campaign teams,” Machado wrote on X. She is seen as the one who polls show, would beat the incumbent in a fair race.
“These cowardly actions aim to close Venezuela’s path to change and freedom in peace and democracy,” she added.
Machado has been barred from public office for 15 years by courts loyal to President Maduro on widely dismissed corruption charges and for supporting Western sanctions against Maduro’s government.
In the latest attack on her presidential ambitions, Venezuela’s attorney general Tarek William Saab accused him and his aides of a conspiracy to destabilize the country on Wednesday.
He reported the arrest of Dignora Hernandez and Henry Albirez, leaders of Machado Vente’s political party, for these “destabilizing actions.”
Seven other Machado aides have been arrested in recent days, and several more have been sentenced.
The attorney general did not indicate any action against Machado herself.
Venezuela will go to the polls on July 28, with President Maduro seeking re-election after 11 years in office marked by sanctions, economic collapse and allegations of widespread repression.
Machado won the opposition primary in October last year with 92 percent of the vote.
However, with the Supreme Court’s ruling upholding his disqualification, she will be barred from holding public office for 15 years nor can the man widely seen as her natural replacement, two-time presidential candidate Henrique Capriles.
Machado, 56, accused Maduro of violating an agreement signed last year by the Barbadian government and opposition parties to hold a free and fair vote in 2024 with international observers present.
Under the deal, the United States eased sanctions to allow Chevron to resume limited oil drilling in Venezuela, but is now reconsidering the decision as Machado remains excluded from the vote.
Machado has so far refused to bow out, despite seeming to have little chance of overcoming the hurdles the state has placed in her way to power.
The official nomination of presidential candidates will begin on Thursday.
![NEW YORK: Pakistan's former Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, leading Pakistan’s high-level parliamentary delegation, on Tuesday warned that India's aggressive actions pose a serious threat to peace in South Asia and urged the international community to take note of India's aggressive conduct. Bilawal was addressing a press conference at the United Nations headquarters in New York on recent regional developments after the military conflict between India and Pakistan. The Pakistani delegation is in New York to present Pakistan’s stance on the military escalation with India and to challenge New Delhi’s narrative at the global level. The visit is part of Pakistan’s sustained diplomatic outreach to brief key UN stakeholders on the alarming regional situation. The Pakistani delegation is also scheduled to arrive in Washington today, where it plans to engage with Secretary of State Marco Rubio, other senior officials, lawmakers, and think tanks till June 6. The team will also visit London and Brussels. Speaking at the press conference, Bilawal said that he wanted to use the opportunity to share Pakistan’s perspective on the recent military conflict with India in the wake of the Pahalgam attack and the way forward. Bilawal said that the “illegal strikes” launched by India as part of its ‘Operation Sindoor’ were “in violation of the UN Charter, international law”. He said the attacks had targeted civilian infrastructure, places of worship, energy infrastructure and innocent women and children. He said India had used the April 22 terrorist attack in Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir’s (IIOJK) Pahalgam as a pretext to launch the attack inside Pakistan. Following the Pahalgam incident, Pakistan's Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif offered publicly to India that Pakistan was ready to be part of any impartial international investigation into this attack. “We did so because we were confident, our hands were clean and we had nothing to do with this terrorist attack. “We expressed our sympathy with the victims of terrorism and Pakistan has consistently and unequivocally condemned terrorism in all its forms and manifestations,” he said, adding that PM Sharif had immediately expressed Pakistan’s willingness to India and the global community to be part of any impartial international investigation. “Indian government refused Pakistan's offer and chose instead to conduct their illegal strikes. Pakistan only then acted in self-defence, we never initiated any violence against India,” Bilawal said. Bilawal emphasised that Pakistan never initiated hostilities against India but responded to Indian aggression by downing six Indian fighter jets. "The Pakistani military had responded with precision the night of the first Indian attack and only targeted and downed six planes because we believed those were the ones to release their load on Pakistan”. He stated that US President Donald Trump and Secretary of State Marco Rubio played a vital role in achieving a ceasefire during heightened tensions between the nuclear-armed South Asian neighbours. “We’ve seen during the course of this conflict how quickly the escalation ladder between our two countries rose and the concern is that the next time there is such an incident, there may not be time for the international community to intervene before things get a lot worse. That is why it is absolutely important for Pakistan and the international community to continue to pursue dialogue and diplomacy as the only viable path to peace.” He said Pakistan’s position was to hold a “comprehensive dialogue” with India that would include the issue of terrorism as well. The head of the Pakistani delegation said that no civilized nation can support the use of water as a weapon and urged the international community to play its part, questioning, "What would be the global reaction if someone’s lifeline was cut off?" He stressed that Pakistan has paid a heavy price in the fight against terrorism and has suffered the most. “The single largest number of terrorist attacks that take place in any one country is Pakistan. The single largest number of victims of terrorism is Pakistan. I myself have suffered at the hands of terrorists. My mother [Benazir Bhutto] was assassinated by the terrorists.” Bilawal also criticised India for targeting water reservoirs and civilian areas, including mosques, during its attacks. Calling negotiations the only path to peace, Bilawal reiterated that the unresolved Kashmir dispute remains the root cause of regional instability. He urged the global community to take notice of India’s aggressive conduct.](https://wenewsenglish.com/storage/2025/06/Bilawal-Bhutto-Zardari-300x180.jpg)
