President Maduro Meets New Independent Opposition Leaders in Miraflores Palace

Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, accompanied by his wife, Deputy Cilia Flores, and the head of the Venezuela Nuestra campaign staff and president of the National Assembly, Jorge Rodríguez, held a meeting at the Miraflores Palace in which they received leaders of the opposition that recently have declared themselve independent and announced their support to Maduro’s presidential bid. The goal of the meeting is forming a National Front for Peace after the upcoming presidential elections scheduled for July 28

The opposition leaders present during the meeting were:

• Adrian Azuaje, mayor of Obispos Municipality, Barinas state;
• Eduardo Negrette, mayor of Samuel Dario Maldonado (La Tendida) Municipality, Táchira State;
• Jesus Mendez, mayor of Píritu Municipality, Anzoategui state;
• Juan Carlos Zamora, mayor of Tinaco Municipality, Cojedes state;
• Sulme Avila, mayor of the Juan German Roscio (San Juan De Los Morros) Municipality, Guárico State;
• Luis Pinto, mayor of El Socorro Municipality, Guárico state;
• Carlos Prosperi Manuit, opposition political leader formerly belonging to Democratic Action (AD), and second place in last year controversial opposition primaries; and
• Daniel Coronel, Head of the Carabobo Youth Campaign in the 2017 Regional Elections, Former Coordinator of the MUD Carabobo Youth and activist of Voluntad Popular and Vente Venezuela;

Deputy Jorge Rodríguez urged the leaders of the independent opposition to move towards a consensus for peace, despite political differences. During the meeting Rodríguez said, “Beyond the differences, beyond the particular worldview that each one has, we can move towards consensus, we can converge on common proposals, we can point out that we do not think the same about many things, but there are some things that we do share.”

Rodríguez told the group of opposition members who have expressed their support for the candidacy of the leader of the Bolivarian Revolution that there are three elements that allow him to approach the opposition. “First, the peace of the republic; second, the need to defeat extreme positions and, third, economic prosperity,” he said. He added that there can be no disagreement on the need for the country to live in peace, “so that our daughters and sons can grow up in peace.”

Regarding defeating extremist positions that have not done any good to Venezuela, Rodriguez said that “it is time that we can all come together, all of us in a common proposal.”

Regarding economic prosperity, he pointed out that no one can be against it, “who can be against Venezuela overcoming the aggression it suffered, overcoming the blockade and economic wars, and being able to advance even further,” asked Rodriguez, while saying that the country has already recovered the economy and is now advancing in the creation of wealth.

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Endorsement of Maduro and dialogue
Each of the leaders spoke during the televised meeting and discussed the situation of their regions, after confirming their support for President Maduro’s candidacy. Adrián Azuaje, mayor of the Obispos municipality, Barinas state, said that as a representative of the western plains, “we only want to work for Venezuela.”

Luis Pinto, mayor of El Socorro, Guárico state, asked the president for support for the conuqueros (small farmers) “who have not planted for years,” he said. They are grouped in associations, he explained.

President Maduro insisted on reviving the concept of the conuco, as it is an organic and ecological concept, “the conuquero takes care of the land so that it does not dry out, he takes care of his properties, maintained by the humble people. I want to take it to the concept of a community conuco and from there develop all of Venezuelan agriculture. I want to support that sector, how many are there?” the President asked Mayor Pinto.

Daniel Coronel, leader of the youth of Carabobo state, announced that the enterprising youth will travel around the country to support El Gallo Pinto, the campaign name given by the people to President Maduro, we are showing our face to build the best Venezuela, to bring the message to the youth through dialogue.

Jesús Méndez, mayor of the “Píritu” municipality, in the state of Anzoátegui, expressed his confidence in the vote. “I was elected by vote and I believe in peace, in reconciliation, I believe in politics where common ground is sought and where the needs of the people are taken care of,” he said. He also described the water problem in the municipality as a “cancer,” which is still insufficient to bring water to the more than 40 thousand inhabitants of the entire municipality. He added that he does not have sufficient resources to develop a solution. He also commented on the power outages due to the lack of transformers, downpipes and circuit breakers, resources needed to reduce electricity outages.

He also commented on the creation of a primary health network, 24-hour home medical care that currently operates in the Píritu municipality. “We started with motorcycles and bicycles and we already have an ambulance, it is pre-hospital care, it would be interesting to take it to the rest of the municipalities,” added Méndez.

The mayor of San Juan de los Morros, Guárico state, Sulme Ávila, highligthed the need to work for peace. “Enough of hatred, enough of evil,” she said. Ávila commented on the main needs of her municipality, such as the weaknesses in garbage collection, and asked for support to promote agricultural production. She said that San Juan seems like “the moon” when referring to the need for paving the city. She added that she is willing to work for peace and end hatred.

Juan Carlos Zamora, mayor of the Tinaco Municipality , Cojedes state, considered this meeting necessary, he recalled that he was trained in the ranks of the revolution and after learning “the truth” of the opposition, he decided to return. Mayor Zamora said that the biggest problem that his municipality has is the water service and commented that the asphalt plan was stopped, so he asked Maduro for support to continue with it, but the supply of asphalt did not continue to arrive to the entity. He also commented on the support provided by PSUV Deputy Iris Varela in the entity.

Carlos Prosperi talked about his beginnings with the Democratic Action party. However, due to his family ties with former governor Eduardo Manuit, he voted for Chávez and for the election of his uncle as governor of Guarico.

He claimed to have been consistent with his speeches. “Where there is peace, there we will be.” He recognized Maduro’s willingness not to carry out expropriations and to return properties that were in the hands of the state, such as the Sambil shopping center in La Candelaria, Caracas,” he commented. Venezuela has many problems, he added.

Prósperi said, “I believe in the left, which is called to fulfill its duty to the people. I believe that after July 28 there has to be a review, of course there are problems, such as wages, and it is recognized that the weight of the sanctions must be understood, sanctions that I have rejected and will continue to do so. Let us hope that they do not invent again that there is a de facto government here, they want to continue being the opposition to continue profiting from the assets that were illegally seized abroad. I bet that you will call for dialogue, after the elections of July 28.”

The far-right leadership has major weaknesses
President Maduro said that there has been a far-right leadership with great weaknesses, one of these being the idea that they can destroy Chavismo and Bolivarianism by adopting an extremist and violent strategy.

Maduro made a count since 2015 when the opposition won the majority of the National Assembly and he recognized the electoral results. “That ultra-right leadership lined themselves with money and they all live abroad, Guaidó lives in Miami like a sultan.

The president further noted, “If the country is experiencing any recovery today, it is thanks to the people who stood up, innovated, created, worked and did not give up, there were millions of them.”

Review of Venezuela’s Presidential Campaign 13 Days Before the Elections

He said that Venezuela has entered into a win-win dynamic, and added that it is up to him to lead the great crusade for truth, peace, understanding, dialogue, reconciliation and for more changes and transformations that Venezuela needs.

In this way, he confirmed to the independent opposition that on July 29 he will sign a decree to call for the great dialogue: Economic, cultural, social and political. “I value this vote of confidence that you are giving me as leaders who come from the opposition, I value it very much … I tell you: Rest assured that I will not fail you, we will see each other on the paths of the future and this country is moving forward.”

Nicolás Maduro told the leaders of the independent opposition that they have his support for the execution of projects in various areas in their municipalities. “The riots and violence will not return,” he said.

Bot farms
Maduro denounced the development of bot farms that the opposition uses to attack through social media platforms at a global level, in order to achieve its political objectives.

“For each phone, they have 10 phone lines. In Mexico, they wanted to make people believe that the candidate of the extreme right was winning by a 20% margin, through the exit polls method that the extreme right uses to boost the vote. In Venezuela, real votes will win over the bots.

(Últimas Noticias) by Odry Farnetano

Translation: Orinoco Tribune

OT/JRE/MCM