Venezuelan opposition candidate calls for unity against Maduro, support of civil liberties

Venezuelan opposition presidential candidate of the María Corina Machado is letting her fellow countrymen know that she's ready to launch a united front to defeat the communist Maduro regime. 

The national coordinator of Vente Venezuela (Let's Go Venezuela) responded in an interview with Politiks, saying the entire country should support one single opposition candidate to face Nicolás Maduro in the upcoming presidential elections.

Regarding her proposed government agenda,  Machado explained that she would leave behind the socialism that destroyed Venezuela.

She also said that the state should not own everything and subordinat civil society. On the contrary, Machado said her country's political model should be the other way around.

The Venezuelan opposition leader -- who currently leads the voting intention -- showed her position on various social issues.

"I'm all for it," Machado said of same-sex marriage.

Regarding abortion, which in Venezuela is only allowed when the life of the mother is at risk (and penalizes the practice with up to two years in prison), Machado replied that she has "religious convictions," but was in favor of decriminalization in case of rape, calling for "a rational, national debate" on the issue.

"Now, I would never impose my views, in this case, religious, on a society, I am not going to do it. That would be absolutely contrary to what a liberal society deserves and demands," she added.

Machado also supported legalizing marijuana for medical use, but rejected the use of harder drugs.

In the case of euthanasia, she suggested it should be permissible in some cases, "if the patient really needs it."

Asked about her ideological definition, Machado defined herself as a liberal and insisted that the Vente Venezuela movement is liberal centrist.

The rising opposition candidate also also said it is necessary to renew all the country's institutions to begin economic and social reconstruction.

The "PDVSA, the Guayana companies, the hotels, the telecommunications companies must be privatized," she said.

The candidate stated that, if elected, one of the first things she would do is eliminate the presidential re-election that kept Chavez and Maduro in power for so long.

She said the length of the term "can be like what we had before. Five years seems reasonable to me."

In mid-February, the divided Venezuelan opposition set the primary elections for Oct. 22 with a view to defining a candidate to face the dictator Nicolás Maduro in 2024.