Maria Corina Machado, the leader of the Venezuelan opposition, lost her seat in legislature on Monday for her alleged role in anti-government protests. According to the government, Machado violated the constitution by addressing the Organization of American States last week at the invitation of Panama, which ceded its seat at the Washington-based group to Machado - she has now lost immunity from prosecution. Machado has published an impassioned letter on Vente Venezuela. You can read our translation below:
"The Venezuelan people elected me to congress in the year 2010 through the mandate of the Constitution and by exercising their sovereign power. How can that popular mandate come to an end? The constitution establishes that the term of a representative to the National Assembly of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela can only end through one of four situations: the first, death. The second, resignation. The third, via a Referendum.
The fourth is through a court of law where an impeachment handed out by the Supreme Court resulting in the dismissal of parliamentary immunity, as provided in Article 200. None of the above apply to my case. The President of the National Assembly has no power to remove a representative from his or her post. Only a Plenary Assembly could remove me from my post temporarily through a two-thirds majority vote from its members, as established by article 187 of the Constitution.
As the official party knows that they are minority, within and without the National Assembly, they are not seeking to comply with this required path. In any case, this kind of removal could never be definitive. The absolute removal of a congresswoman is not even mentioned in the Constitution and could never come from the President of the National Assembly, much less the President of the Republic.
The Regime argues that taking the floor at the Delegation of Panama before the Organization of American States is due cause for the loss of my parliamentary position. They want to ignore that it is only an exercise of free speech inherent in my existence as a Venezuelan parliamentarian. The right to free speech for a citizen of another country is a mechanism to defend democracy and the system of liberties that has been used in the history of this Organization. It is an absolutely necessary function, whose acceptance is expressly permitted by article 191 of the Constitution. As a Congresswoman, I am not a functionary of the administration. The actions of the regime against me is a vulgar excuse. It represents an abuse of power that seeks to silence my voice and eliminate my immunity, my parliamentary prerogatives and thus be able to arrest me without the guarantee of due process and the right to defense, violating everything stated in the American Charter of Human Rights.
What is Nicolas Maduro afraid of? Why is he trying to silence me? He fears the truth, he fears denouncement, he fears peaceful protest. Maduro cannot stand that my voice is the voice of those he tries to silence. The vast majority of Venezuelans want reconciliation and dialog. But dialog is only possible through respect and recognition. The Venezuelan government tries to silence that majority who reject its practices and want to engage in dialog through repression, murder, torture and imprisonment. Its dictatorial behavior only gives us more reasons for strength in our civic battle, peaceful and firm as it will remain until we achieve democracy and freedom."
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