María Corina Machado about the revocation of the temporary protection status for Venezuelans in the US: “It is heartbreaking”

Spanish CNN
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The Venezuelan opposition leader, María Corina Machado, said Monday that the decision of President Donald Trump’s government to revoke the temporal protection status (TPS) for Venezuelans in the United States “is a heartbreaking issue.”

“We have two months, from April 2, and we are dedicated to seeking some kind of effective protection for Venezuelans of good, which are the vast majority,” said Machado. The TPS for Venezuelans, established in 2021 by the government of then President Joe Biden and extended in 2023, allows those who requested it in 2021 to maintain work permits and avoid deportation until September. However, hundreds of thousands of Venezuelans who processed it under the designation of 2023 and hoped to have these protections until the end of 2026, can only enjoy the benefit until April 2.

In an interview with seven journalists and transmitted through the YouTube channel of Vente, his political organization, Machado said that the measure generates a “enormous” concern, and that he has been talking since “many days” with representatives in the southern of Florida to guarantee the well -being of Venezuelans.

This is the first time that Machado is pronounced publicly since last Wednesday the Trump administration announced the measure against this group of immigrants. Vente did published on his social networks a statement in the assured that, although he respected the decision of the United States government, he considered crucial to conserve the protection mechanism or establish an alternative that recognized “the severity” of the crisis of the South American country.

“We want them to return, but to a free, safe and prosperous Venezuela, where no one pursues and will voluntarily,” Machado said.

He considered that the situation of criminals must be separated because “each government has the right to fulfill their laws” and most Venezuelans in the United States contribute to the country well.

The Venezuelan opposition leader, Edmundo González, seconded Machado. “We continue to talk to achieve effective mechanisms for their security in the US,” he published in his X account.

Trump said last Thursday that, after a meeting between his special envoy, Richard Grenelll and the president of Venezuela, Nicolás Maduro, Venezuela had agreed to receive repatriation flights.

Before the question about whether the Grenelll visit, the TPS suspension and the extension of the license that allows the oil company Chevron to operate in Venezuela, influence the recognition of the results of the July 28 elections, Machado said that “they have After thirteen days nothing more ”and stressed that Trump recognized Edmundo González as the winner of the elections.