Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado said she is in hiding and that she fears for her freedom and for her life, in an op-ed published on Thursday in the Wall Street Journal.

Machado, who is the main force behind the presidential candidacy of former ambassador Edmundo González, emphasized that Venezuelan strongman Nicolás Maduro lost Sunday’s election and that she can prove it.

“I write this from hiding, fearing for my life, my freedom and that of my fellow countrymen under the dictatorship of Nicolás Maduro,” Machado wrote in an editorial titled: I can prove that Maduro got trounced.

“Mr. Maduro did not win the Venezuelan presidential election on Sunday. He lost by a landslide to Edmundo González, 67% to 30%. I know this to be true because I can prove it. I have receipts obtained directly from more than 80% of the country’s polling stations.”

Machado has not been seen for 24 hours.

  • SeaJ@lemm.eeEnglish
    10·
    3 months ago

    That would certainly track with the exit polling that Edison Research did:

    https://www.edisonresearch.com/edison-research-conducts-exit-poll-in-venezuela/

    Also, the official results are pretty sketch. Maduro got 51.2% exactly. That would be fairly unlikely to get a vote tally to an exact tenth of a decimal but it could totally happen. But Gonzalez got 44.2% exactly as well (the third guy clearly got an exact tenth of a decibel too because basic math). The likelihood of both of them getting that is 1 in 100 million.

    • Deceptichum@quokk.auEnglish
      12·
      3 months ago

      They had time to make a cryptic post that could manipulate public sentiment, but couldn’t have lead with the evidence they claim to have? Yeah, nah that sus.

      Either put out the proof or don’t make the claim. Until that point, this person cannot be trusted.

      • SeaJ@lemm.eeEnglish
        5·
        3 months ago

        Wait…a Venezuelan pollster (Hinterlaces) did exit polling in Venezuela…where exit polling is illegal? The editor in chief of the site you are using worked for The Grayzone which is pretty notorious for spreading Russian and Chinese propaganda. They have hired many people from RT and Sputnik.

        • TokenBoomer@lemmy.worldEnglish
          6·
          3 months ago

          where exit polling is illegal?

          So, you admit the Edison poll is bullshit propaganda? Nice. Can’t take that back homie, the cat’s outta the bag.

          (Machado with George Bush after the 2002 coup attempt in May 2005)

          • SeaJ@lemm.eeEnglish
            4·
            3 months ago

            Slight difference between a foreign company willing to break Venezuelan laws and the ‘most independent’ Venezuelan pollster, homie. Edison Research has a lot less to lose.

            I do love how you show a picture of Machado and try to link her to the 2002 coup attempt despite the picture being taken 3 years later. Good job. You know what Edmundo Gonzalez was doing in 2002? Working for Chávez.

            The official results were clearly made up. There was a 1 in 100 million chance that the results for Maduro and Gonzalez both landed exactly on a tenth of a percentage point. The official results were extremely unlikely. And there are receipts showing a very different result.