The president of the regional government of Madeira, Miguel Albuquerque, acknowledged on Sunday that he may travel to Venezuela in the coming months if necessary and considered that the United States of America will not allow the Chavista regime to remain in power.
“If I have to go [to Venezuela], I will. But let’s wait and see what happens because there is still uncertainty regarding the transition of power,” the Madeiran government chief told journalists on the sidelines of the traditional mega bolo de Reis cake offered to the population of the municipality of Câmara e Lobos.
Miguel Albuquerque also raised the possibility of participating in the rally being organised by Venezuelan associations this afternoon in Praça do Povo, on the Funchal waterfront.
“I don’t know, but everyone already knows that I have always been with our Venezuelan community,” he stressed.
In the opinion of the Madeiran leader, “the United States will not accept that it is the remnants of so-called Chavismo” that will bring about regime change in Venezuela.
The expectation is that there will be a “peaceful transition to full democracy”, noting that there is uncertainty about how this process will unfold and that, “at this moment, there is some fogginess” about this situation.
“We have to wait because there is still no definition of what the transition will be. The expectations of the population and our community are that there will be a peaceful transition to full democracy,” he said.
The Madeiran government official reaffirmed that the community has been monitored since early Saturday morning, noting that in cities outside Caracas, supply centres and supermarkets have opened, and mentioned the cases of Maracay, Valencia, Barquisimeto and Margarita, which have had “an almost normal life”, albeit with “some fear, some apprehension”.
In the case of Caracas, he recalled that “some supermarkets also opened because the worst thing that can happen is a break in the supply chain, which can lead to looting, and there is also some fear about what the so-called colectivos might do”.
“At this moment, there is still no defined exercise of power,” he emphasised, adding that there is “always this fear regarding the polarisation of society and, at this moment, with Maduro leaving power, it remains to be seen who will ensure this transition period”.
Albuquerque stressed that “there must now be a change, and no one knows how it will be done: whether negotiation is necessary, or whether there will be further military intervention,” with the current moment being one of anticipation.
The minister pointed out that this community in Madeira, estimated at more than 11,000 people, is “fully integrated” and those who came to the region “had no problems.”
On the possible return of these citizens to their country, he argued: “If there is full democracy in Venezuela, a country growing economically, with greater social justice and greater development, that is good for everyone, it is good for Madeira, it is good for the Madeiran community, because there are complicated situations in Venezuela from a social point of view.”
On Saturday, the United States launched “a large-scale attack on Venezuela” to capture and try Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro and his wife. It announced that it would govern the country until a transition of power was completed.
The announcement was made by US President Donald Trump hours after the attack on Caracas.
The Venezuelan government denounced the “extremely serious military aggression” by the United States and declared a state of emergency.