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Venezuela's leader Nicolás Maduro once again attracted global attention by pressuring everyone to accept him as the winner of the presidential election in July, forcing the united opposition's candidate, Edmundo González Urrutia, to flee his country.

Venezuelan activists and international NGOs say that the regime has adopted its harshest repressive measures after accusations of electoral fraud turned international.

But it seems like this time, the West has had enough.

On Thursday, the European Parliament voted in favour of a non-binding resolution stating that González, not Maduro, is the legitimate winner of the presidential election.

The partnerships with Russia, Cuba and Iran, as well as oil, gold and drug trafficking and human rights violations, have put Venezuela among countries antagonist to the interests of the West.

In an exclusive interview, the leader of the Venezuelan opposition, Maria Corina Machado, told Euronews why Venezuela is crucial for European interests and why the decision in Brussels matters so much to her and her compatriots.

Opposition leader Maria Corina Machado, left, and opposition candidate Edmundo Gonzalez hold up vote tally sheets from the top of a truck during a protest against the official Cristian Hernandez/Copyright 2024 The AP. All rights reserved

Euronews: The situation in Venezuela is particularly tense. What is happening now in the country? What is the latest information about the political situation and the general atmosphere in the streets of Venezuela?

Maria Corina Machado: Since the extraordinary victory of July 28 in the presidential elections, where Edmundo González Urrutia was elected president, Maduro unleashed a wave of repression like never before.

We are in a situation of maximum persecution, and practically all the leaders that had to do with the organization of the elections are currently either in hiding, exiled, or refugeed abroad, or detained.

Euronews: Under these circumstances, is there still a social base and a political platform that justifies, even if they don't legitimise, the presence of Maduro and his party or his political force in power?

Machado: This is a very important point because somehow the regime succeeded, first Chávez an