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Venezuelan opposition figure to face assassination plot charges Printer friendly page Print This
By Staff Writers, Telesur
Telesur
Thursday, Nov 27, 2014

Maria Machado was a member of the National Assembly until earlier this year. (Photo: Reuters)

Former Venezuelan legislator Maria Machado has previously been accused of plotting to overthrow the government, and even participated in the 2002 coup, but now she could finally face criminal charges.

Venezuela's public prosecutor announced Wednesday that far-right opposition figure Maria Machado will be charged for involvement in an alleged plot to assassinate President Nicolas Maduro.

According to a statement from the prosecutor, charges will be formally be filed December 3.

Machado took to Twitter to claim the allegations against her are politically motivated, though the firebrand has long been accused of plotting against the government.

During a coup that temporarily ousted former President Hugo Chavez in 2002, Machado was one of the signatories to the so-called “Carmona Decree” which dissolved the Supreme Court and suspended the attorney general, comptroller general, and all elected officials in the country.

The decree was the manifesto of the short-lived coup, which also declared business leader Pedro Carmona de facto head of state.

Machado claimed she signed the political document by accident while paying a visit to the presidential palace at the height of the coup. Later she said she believed it was a sign-in sheet, not a declaration of the overthrow of the government.

In June 2013, Machado was accused of involvement in another plot. Those allegations stemmed from a leaked audio recording that her critics said showed she was part of a conspiracy to overthrow Maduro.

In November of the same year, journalist Eva Golinger accused Machado of being part of an international plan to promote violence in Venezuela's streets.

“Foreign interests, from Colombia and the U.S., are working with opposition groups inside Venezuela to destabilize (Maduro's) government, aiming towards sabotaging the upcoming December 8 municipal elections,” she told the news website Venezuelanalysis.com.

While the elections went off without a hitch, three months later far-right opposition groups answered calls by Machado and opposition leader Leopoldo Lopez to create “the exit” for the elected government, staging a wave of nationwide violence, including torching government buildings, attacking perceived leftists, and erecting street barricades.

The violence left at least 40 people dead – most killed by clashes at barricades or opposition violence.

Amid the unrest, Machado was stripped of her position as a member of the National Assembly after speaking at the Organization of American States representing Panama, a violation of Venezuelan law.

In recent months, Machado and other right-wing politicians have been linked with youth opposition leader Lorent Saleh, who was extradited from Colombia after having registered into a military college under a false identity. In videos released after his extradition, Saleh talks openly about organizing violence in coordination with opposition politicians, including targetted assassinations.

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