Opposition leader Maria Corina Machado says in an interview with the AFP news agency that she is willing to give "guarantees and benefits" to Maduro if a "negotiated transfer of power" can be achieved.
Machado is in hiding as she feels directly threatened by Venezuela's government. The interview was conducted via voice messages, and in the interview, she simultaneously appealed for increased international pressure on Venezuela's leadership to step down.
Machado also predicts in an interview with Mexican media that a mass exodus from the country threatens if Maduro clings to power with violence.
Mass Exodus Threatens
What we will then experience is an unprecedented mass migration – three, four, five million Venezuelans in a very short time.
The opposition claims that Maduro did not win the criticized presidential election on July 28. A large number of countries in Latin America, as well as the UN, EU, and USA, are demanding insight into the election results.
Most recently, Mexico, Colombia, and Brazil jointly demanded that the electoral rolls be reviewed.
The electoral commission in the country, which is close to President Maduro, has officially declared that the sitting president won the election.
Refuses Negotiations
President Maduro later responded to the opposition's move, saying that negotiations with the opposition about the election results were out of the question.
On Friday, Maduro also announced that the media platform X would be blocked in Venezuela for ten days. Maduro had previously accused X-owner Elon Musk of "attacking" his re-election as president.
According to the opposition, protocols collected directly from over 80 percent of the polling stations show that their candidate won big, with two-thirds of the votes. The electoral authority, however, claims that Maduro won, with just over 50 percent of the votes.
The Supreme Court, which is criticized by critics and the opposition as being loyal to Maduro, has taken over the question of the election results and on Friday, Maduro testified in court. He then demanded that the court ratify the disputed election result.
The opposition's presidential candidate, Edmundo González Urrutia, was summoned last week but did not appear, fearing arrest. He is also in hiding.
According to the UN, more than seven million Venezuelans have fled the country since socialist leader Maduro came to power in 2013, a period marked by economic mismanagement, GDP decline, and international sanctions.
