maria corina machado in caracas, venezuela, welcome to hardtalk. thank you very much, stephen. it s a pleasure. well, it s great to have you on the show. for years, you have argued that participating in democracy in venezuela under nicolas maduro s rule is a grave mistake because it ends up legitimising maduro. so, how come you ve now decided to put your hat in the ring and seek the nomination from the opposition to fight in next year s presidential election? for years, we, the venezuelan people have been explaining to the world the way nicolas maduro has been rigging elections and the turning down, through control and repression, thejudiciary system, the national assembly, as well as the military and every single democratic institution. we ve reached a point in which we realise that maduro is willing to do anything to stay in power, and the only way through which we can confront and defeat him is building a huge, unprecedented, social movement, citizen movement, that is righ
and all the main news stories straight after hardtalk. i m stephen sackur. nicolas maduro, venezuela s authoritarian socialist over the past decade, he s overseen a crumbling economy, of venezuela s population and yet, he is still in power, and the opposition s big idea, the creation of an alternative government, has foundered. my guest, maria corina machado, is currently frontrunner amongst opposition candidates but does she have any realistic chance of toppling venezuela s strongman? maria corina machado in caracas, venezuela, welcome to hardtalk. thank you very much, stephen. it s a pleasure. for years, you have argued that participating in democracy in venezuela under nicolas maduro s rule is a grave mistake because it ends up legitimising maduro. so, how come you ve now decided to put your hat in the ring and seek the nomination from the opposition to fight in next year s presidential election? for years, we, the venezuelan people have been explaining to the world th
maria corina machado. welcome to hardtalk. thank you very much, stephen, it is a pleasure. great to have you on the show. for years, you have argued that participating in democracy in venezuela under nicolas maduro s rule, is a grave mistake because it ends up legitimising maduro. how come you have now decided to your hat in the ring how come you have now decided to put your hat in the ring and seek the nomination from the opposition, to fight in next year s presidential elections? for years, venezuela s people have been explaining to the world the way nicolas maduro have been rigging elections and turning down through control and repression, thejudiciary system, the national assembly, as well as the military at every single democratic institution. we have reached a point in which we realise maduro is willing to do anything to stay in power. the only way through which we can confront and defeat him is building a huge, unprecedented social movement, citizen movement that is ri
in which we realise maduro is willing to do anything to stay in power. the only way through which we can confront and defeat him is building a huge, unprecedented social movement, citizen movement that is right now arousing and growing. finally, the world has to understand that this is a criminal system, much worse than a conventional dictatorship, and the only way we can stop migration, we can stop this totalisation of democratic systems in other countries in the region is by transition to democracy. that requires strength, certainly, as well as a company and support from democratic nations throughout the world. i m still puzzled as to why you think it is going to be possible for you to run in an election while maduro is still in power. you ve just described what you see is all of the massive negatives about maduro s control
i m still puzzled as to why you think it is going to be possible for you to run in an election while nicolas maduro is still in power. you ve just described what you see is all of the massive negatives about maduro s control of your country, so, is your standing, seeking to be the opposition candidate, is that a purely symbolic value, do you believe this election will never happen or what? oh, it s not symbolic, it is realistic. and it is growing in strength and support and hope. we are certainly not the same, stephen, as we were years ago. we, the venezuelan people, and certainly, the regime. it is important to understand maduro has sacked the country, not only the oil enterprises, as well as the rest of the economy has been destroyed. they have robbed every single resource, and has our country