Overview

• Barred from the ballot in 2024, Machado led the opposition campaign and now operates from a secret location inside Venezuela, communicating through virtual interviews.
• The electoral authority declared Nicolás Maduro reelected with 52% but has not released full results, citing a computer hack.
• Opposition leaders assert Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia actually won and have posted polling‑station records to back the claim, which the government labels fake.
• UN experts report intensified political repression after the vote, and the United States, European states and several Latin American governments do not recognize Maduro’s reelection.
• Machado emerged as the movement’s central figure after a landslide in the 2023 opposition primaries and advocates market reforms including potential privatization of PDVSA.