Venezuelan opposition leader and Nobel Peace Prize winner María Corina Machado greeted Thursday 17,000 Venezuelans in the streets of Santiago, Chile.
“Santiago is overflowing with us, my Venezuelans!,” she told the crowd as they shouted “Maria Presidente,” spilling out from downtown Parque Almagro in a sea of Venezuelan flags.
Earlier, hundreds of well wishers had gathered in Plaza de Armas to welcome Machado as she was awarded the keys to the city by the Santiago mayor. There, she hugged and took selfies with well-wishers. Later, in the march, she embraced members of the crowd, inviting two children to join her on the stage and wave to the thousands lining the streets.
The march, which the police had planned to be attended by 4,000, was the largest public demonstration attended by Machado since she left Venezuela in December. After leaving the event, Machado said it was “indescribable” on social media.
“Today our clear path is to move forward so that all those who have been forced to leave their country can travel back to reunite with their families with their heads held high,” Machado said.
Chile is home to the fourth largest Venezuelan diaspora in Latin America with almost 700,000 Venezuelan nationals living there, 42% of the foreign-born Chilean population. Of the illegal migrants living in Chile, 75% are Venezuelan, according to figures from the Liberty and Development think tank.
Exploiting these figures was central to new President José Antonio Kast’s successful presidential campaign. He promised to expel thousands of illegal migrants living in Chile. In his inaugural address Wednesday, he said he had already ordered the military to build a physical barrier along the border with Bolivia, a regular crossing for migrants arriving on foot.
In his first day in office, Kast launched the Shield Frontier Plan, a strategy for erecting walls five meters in height equipped with motion sensors, facial recognition and infrared cameras. The plan also includes funding for surveillance drones along Chile’s northern borders.
As violent and petty crime has risen in recent years, the Centre for Public Studies says seven in ten Chileans “strongly agree” that illegal immigration is driving insecurity.
Kast, his followers and other members of his party have, in their discourse against migration, publicly targeted the Venezuelan diaspora. In January, Kast singled out Venezuelans on Canal 5 Noticias, saying illegal Venezuelans’ “days were numbered” as he promised an unprecedented ramp up of deportation orders. After his election victory, he repeatedly called on Venezuelans to remove themselves from Chile before he took power.
Machado, who was in Chile for Kast’s inauguration, said in a statement that the Venezuelans living in Chile were “decent people.”
“What we are doing here today is asking all Chileans — and all Latin Americans — to help us ensure that every Venezuelan can return with dignity and freedom to the country they adore,” she added.
Read more: José Antonio Kast becomes Chile’s first hard-right president since dictatorship
Striking a similar tone to Kast, U.S. President Donald Trump has vilified Venezuelan’s living in the U.S., tying them to the international criminal organization, one the U.S. labels terrorist, the Tren de Aragua. Since taking office, Trump has said Venezuelans linked to the gang were “invading” the U.S.
Machado, who gifted her Nobel Peace Prize medal to Trump in January following the U.S. capture of Nicolás Maduro, said in a video address Thursday that Trump remained a “fundamental ally” to Venezuela.
Trump had earlier questioned Machado’s suitability to lead, citing (misleading) low approval ratings. Trump has also praised Venezuela’s interim president and Maduro’s former vice president, who is widely disliked by Venezuelans.
As tension between the Venezuelan diaspora and the new hardline government bubble in Chile, Machado tread a fine line, telling reporters that she had not yet discussed with Kast how Chile can support Venezuelan’s who have fled the country.
Featured Image: Thousands gather in the streets of Santiago, Chile with Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado
Image credit: Maria Corina Machado via X
