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full screen Opposition leader María Corina Machado is being investigated as a traitor by prosecutors in Venezuela. Stock Photography Photo: Ariana Cubillos AP/TT
Prosecutors in Venezuela have opened a treason investigation against opposition leader María Corina Machado. The accusations are that she allegedly supported US sanctions after President Nicolás Maduro’s contested election victory in July.
According to the prosecutor’s office in Caracas, the opposition leader’s statements constitute “treason against the homeland” and “conspiracy with a foreign power”.
Machado has been going underground for some time.
The investigation against her begins after the US House of Representatives on Monday approved a federal embargo on business with Maduro’s government and people connected to it. The proposal must be approved by the US Senate and by President Joe Biden to take effect.
According to Maduro’s government, the sanctions law, if it enters into force, constitutes a violation of the UN Charter.
The opposition in Venezuela claims that their presidential candidate Edmundo González Urrutia, who fled to Spain after an arrest warrant, won the July election with 67 percent of the vote.
The Biden government announced this week that it sees González Urrutia as the country’s popularly elected president.