This past Thursday, May 8, Maria Corina Machado spoke at an event in Toronto. Inside a University of Toronto lecture hall, filled to its capacity of 300, Maria Corina spoke on the crisis in Venezuela, shared some thoughts on current events, and outlined her vision for the future of the country. I had the opportunity to attend the talk.
We arrived at around 7:15 PM. By then, there were about 250 people ahead of us:
By the time the doors opened, there were approximately 300 people behind us in line. The majority of them would not be allowed to enter the lecture hall due to fire safety regulations:
Maria Corina began her talk by congratulating supporters for helping to start “an irreversible process of democratic transition” in Venezuela through the protests that have taken place in the country on a daily basis for the last three months. She highlighted the fact that the Venezuela of this past January was a fundamentally different place than it is now. Since January, Maria Corina argued, Venezuela had awoken.
The two main points I took away from Maria Corina’s talk were these: 1) The struggle Venezuela is undergoing is not simply against scarcity, or insecurity, or inflation; it is an “intrinsically existentialist” struggle, one that is at its most abstract a fight by human beings and citizens with inalienable rights and dignity against assaults by an increasingly tyrannical government; and 2) This is an inherently democratic struggle with democratic goals, and it wants to achieve those goals by democratic means.
On the first point, Maria Corina spoke at length on the connection between the physical and daily suffering of Venezuelans as assaults on their most fundamental human rights. She gave the example of Marvinia Jimenez, the woman who was severely beaten by security forces for recording of a protest, and who now faces five criminal charges while the officer who assaulted her is still free. She also gave a more abstract example, one of a mother who is unable to buy milk for her children one day, undoubtedly a common occurrence given the scarcity crisis the country is suffering through.
These are examples of the “humiliation” Venezuelans are forced to endure by the Maduro government, Maria Corina argued. In the case of Marvinia Jimenez, the physical assault is only the most visible symptom of the assault on her emotional and legal integrity. In the example of the woman unable to feed her children, Maria Corina explained that such an event is an attack on the “honesty, integrity and dignity of human beings”.
On the second point, Maria Corina stressed repeatedly that the answer to the Venezuelan crisis lies in maintaining a “peaceful and civil” presence in the streets of Venezuela, and that its ultimate goal is a democratic transition. “La calle vence!” [literally, “The street wins!”], she proclaimed triumphantly towards the end of her talk. Contrary to assertions by the government, however, Maria Corina was unequivocal in her assertion that the protests must be peaceful.
On the specifics of the democratic transitional period of the current government, Maria Corina stressed that the process must be one that is “fundamentally about reunion and reconciliation“. She conceded that the reconciliation bit in particular would be difficult, since forgiveness is often hard to find. She reminded the crowd that she was assaulted on the floor of the National Assembly last year, and received a broken nose as a result. Maria Corina recalled that, while she was able to come to terms with the assault and eventually feel “compassion” for her attacker, the most difficult thing for her was teaching her children to do the same. Eventually, she says, her children also grew to forgive their mother’s attacker. As hard as forgiveness is, she argued, it is not only possible, but necessary for the future of Venezuela.
Here is a short video showing a portion of Maria Corina’s talk on Thursday, with the translation below:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k8aDHOarXN0
… a great conscience, a lot of pride and a lot of responsibility. Because there are very complicated stages coming, huge challenges, so that our country [can] now begin an irreversible process of democratic transition. When one thinks about how our society was seen at the begining of the year — remember January? It just happened. It feels like a longer time has passed. But remember how [Venezuela] was seen from here. [From the crowd: “Like a democracy!”] Some outside the country might have thought that, yes. But in any case, a country that was conformist, without hope, blind, unsafe, divided, sleeping, resigned. Many people said, “It’s impossible that Venezuela will react”. A country that was submerged in hopelessness. And what happened? [From the crowd: “We awoke!”] Say it loudly! We awoke!
Maria Corina was received warmly by a crowd of interest individuals – mostly Venezuelans – who seemed genuinely thankful for her visit and time. During a brief question and answer period, several people rose to speak, and while some expressed scepticism at the ability of the MUD and the effectiveness of the protests, the evening was an encouraging example of something Venezuela sorely needs if it wants to survive the next years: the willingness of people to sit down and share their opinions in a constructive manner for a common goal.
During her closing speech, Maria Corina shared these words:
The biggest lesson of these historic three months is that we must trust in ourselves… this is a fight we will win because we understand that it is a fight for values.
In Venezuela 
In the auditorium of Victoria College at UofT, did you come across the *professional* agitators, who were present at MCM’s earlier chat that day, at Scotiabank (downtown Toronto), organized by the Canadian Council for the Americas?
I did not. During her talk at U of T, not a single person spoke in dissent to her opinion. I also did not see any signs opposed to her or her position. I do know that some people rose to speak against her in Ottawa the day before, but that did not happen at this talk at U of T. I am aware that solidarity groups organize pro-PSUV demomatrations in Toronto, since I have witnessed them before.
thank you for your quick reponse (and by the way, excellent account of the event). It’s interesting that no one vocally opposed MCM, at UofT, on May 8th. And yes, from accounts, the agitators presented themselves in Ottawa, the day before. The solidarity groups seem to embody largely non-Venezuelans. So I wonder what the link is to the PSUV. Several people also wonder where the funding comes from for these agitators … a couple of ideas come to mind.
My pleasure! Without knowing too much about their motivation, I would guess that the solidarity groups are motivated above all by a blind dedication to ideology and little understanding of the situation on the ground. Chavez was great at pushing the rhetoric, “The US is evil, we are socialist”. An uninformed observer might very easily fall into thinking “The US *is* evil, and I like socialism, so that means I should support the PSUV!”. Thanks for reading, and for your comments!