Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado warned Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador today that there will be an “unprecedented wave of immigration” if Nicolas Maduro remains in power.

“I am with AMLO (Obrador’s acronym) that if Maduro chooses to cling to power by force (…) we will see an immigration wave that we have not seen before: three, four, five million Venezuelans in a very short period of time,” Machado said, speaking to Mexican media via video call.

THE Machado he estimated that there is still time to “turn around” this great exodus of Venezuelans. He also pleaded with López Obrador to intervene in order to find a negotiated solution between Maduro and the opposition. “Mexico has significant power because it maintains a direct channel with the regime” of Maduro. “I hope the Mexican government will understand its enormous responsibility,” he added.

Mexico’s leftist government has so far avoided commenting on the electoral process in Venezuela and did not participate in the Organization of American States meeting on the crisis in that country. “Do not put your hands or nose in” in Venezuela’s electoral process, López Obrador said on July 30, two days after the presidential election, reiterating that his government will recognize the results announced by the National Electoral Council. The latter certified Maduro’s victory with a percentage of 52%, but did not release all the results of the polling stations because it was the victim of cyber-hacking. According with the oppositionits candidate, Edmundo González Urrutia, won the election with 67%.

Machado said yesterday that Mexico, Colombia and Brazil could help find a solution through negotiations with Maduro’s government.

According to the United Nations, about 7.7 million Venezuelans have emigrated in recent years due to the deep economic and political crisis in the country. These people joined the hundreds of thousands of migrants from other countries crossing Mexico in hopes of reaching the US.