Venezuela’s opposition leader on Thursday warned of further huge emigration if President Nicolas Maduro stays in power after his disputed reelection.
The country’s election authority declared Maduro the winner of the July 28 vote despite not releasing detailed results, sparking protests last week that have left at least 24 people dead.
The opposition has published extensive voting data that shows their candidate, Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia as a clear winner, which has been supported by many Latin American countries and the United States.
“If Maduro chooses to stay by force, the only thing we will see is a wave of migration like never before: three, four, five million Venezuelans in a very short span of time,” Maria Corina Machado — who was barred from running in the election and backed Gonzalez Urrutia — said from Venezuela in a video conference with Mexican news outlets.
Machado called on Mexico’s veteran socialist leader Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador to use his influence to help broker a resolution to Venezuela’s political crisis.
Lopez Obrador and Maduro are left-wing allies.
“Mexico has great power because it has a direct channel with the (Maduro) regime,” said Machado.
“I hope that the Mexican government understands the huge responsibility” that it has.
But last month, Lopez Obrador vowed to recognize the results published by Venezuela’s electoral authority, which critics accuse of being unfailingly loyal to Maduro.
Mexico’s government also declined to participate in a meeting of the Organization of American States to discuss the Venezuelan political crisis.
Maduro has led the oil-rich country since 2013, presiding over a 90 percent drop in GDP that pushed more than seven million of the once-wealthy nation’s 30 million citizens to emigrate.
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