Venezuelan opposition leader and Nobel Peace Prize winner Maria Corina Machado greeted 17,000 Venezuelans on the streets of Santiago, Chile, on Thursday.
“Santiago is overflowing with our Venezuelans!” She spoke to crowds chanting “Maria Presidente” pouring out of downtown Parque Almagro amid a sea of Venezuelan flags.
Hundreds of hopefuls gathered at the Plaza de Armas to welcome Machado, who had earlier received the keys to the city from Santiago’s mayor. There she hugged and took selfies with supporters. Later at the march, she hugged the crowd and invited two children to come up on stage and wave to the thousands of people lining the streets.
The march, which police said was expected to attract 4,000 people, was the largest public protest Machado has attended since he left Venezuela in December last year. “I can’t put it into words,” Machado said on social media after leaving the event.
“Our clear path today is to move forward so that all those who have been forced to leave their country can bow their heads and return to be reunited with their families,” Machado said.
Chile is home to the fourth largest Venezuelan diaspora in Latin America, with nearly 700,000 Venezuelans residing in the country, or 42% of the foreign-born Chilean population. According to figures from the Liberty and Development think tank, 75% of illegal immigrants living in Chile are Venezuelan.
Harnessing these numbers was central to the successful presidential campaign of new President José Antonio Kast. He promised to deport thousands of illegal immigrants living in Chile. In his inauguration speech Wednesday, he said he had already ordered the military to build a physical barrier along the border with Bolivia, a regular border crossing for migrants arriving on foot.
On his first day in office, Kast launched the Shield Frontier Plan, a strategy to build a 5-metre-high wall equipped with motion sensors, facial recognition and infrared cameras. The plan also includes funding for surveillance drones along Chile’s northern border.
With violent and petty crime on the rise in recent years, seven in 10 Chileans “strongly agree” that illegal immigration causes insecurity, the Center for Public Research found.
Kast and his followers, as well as other members of his party, have publicly targeted the Venezuelan diaspora in their anti-migration discourse. In January, Kast singled out Venezuelans at Canal 5 Noticias and promised to strengthen unprecedented deportation orders, saying “the days are numbered” for illegal Venezuelans. After winning the election, he repeatedly called on Venezuelans to withdraw from Chile before he took power.
Machado, who was in Chile for Caste’s inauguration ceremony, said in a statement that Venezuelans living in Chile are “decent people.”
“What we are doing here today is asking every Chilean and every Latin American to help every Venezuelan return with dignity and freedom to the country they love,” she added.
Read more: Jose Antonio Caste becomes Chile’s first hard-line president since dictatorship
U.S. President Donald Trump has used caste-like tones to vilify Venezuelans in the U.S., tying them to the international criminal organization Tren de Aragua and designating them as terrorists by the United States. Since taking office, Trump has said gang-linked Venezuelans are “invading” the United States.
Machado, who presented Trump with the Nobel Peace Prize medal in January after the United States arrested Nicolas Maduro, said in a video address Thursday that Trump remains Venezuela’s “fundamental ally.”
Trump previously questioned Machado’s suitability for leadership, citing his low approval rating. Trump also praised Venezuela’s interim president and former Vice President Maduro, who is widely disliked by Venezuelans.
With tensions between the Venezuelan diaspora and Chile’s new hard-line government bubble, Machado told reporters that Chile had not yet discussed with the caste how it could support Venezuelans who have fled the country.
Featured Image: Thousands of people gather on the streets of Santiago, Chile, alongside Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado.
Image Credit: Maria Corina Machado via X
