María Corina Machado greets her supporters during a rally in San Cristóbal, Táchira state.
Photographer: Fabiola Ferrero/BloombergBlacklisted and Muzzled, Maduro's Top Rival Can't Be Held Down
María Corina Machado has built a powerful, energized citizen movement. How far it can ultimately go is up to Nicolás Maduro.
Lea la nota en español. Despite Nicolás Maduro’s best efforts, María Corina Machado is everywhere.
The Venezuelan opposition leader, who won’t appear on the presidential ballot later this month, has sent the ruling party scurrying to stop the fervor behind her. She’s united a long-fractured opposition coalition that once ostracized her. But most of all, she’s built a powerful, energized citizen movement that, according to some long-time observers, is unlike any seen here since the late Hugo Chávez — President Maduro’s mentor and idol — rose from obscurity to unseat the political establishment in the 1990s.