The Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado has confirmed that she has not spoken with the president of the United States, Donald Trump, since the day it was announced that she was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, although she has taken the opportunity to applaud the US offensive against Venezuela in which the president of the South American country, Nicolás Maduro, was captured, and praise the “historic actions” of the tenant of the White House.
“I spoke with Trump on October 10, the day the award was announced, but not since then,” he said in an interview with the American television network Fox News in which he took the opportunity to remember that he “dedicated” his award to Trump because “at that moment I believed he deserved it.”
“Many people, the majority, said that it was impossible to achieve what he did on Saturday, January 3. If you thought he deserved it in October, imagine now,” he explained. “I think he has shown the world what it means. January 3 will go down in history as the day when justice defeated tyranny,” he highlighted.
Thus, he highlighted that the capture of Maduro during the aforementioned military operation, which included bombings and the deployment of ground troops and left dozens of dead in Venezuela, “is a milestone.” “It is not only something tremendous for the Venezuelan people and our future. I think it is an enormous step for humanity, freedom and human dignity,” he argued.
Machado has therefore taken the opportunity to convey, “on behalf of the Venezuelan people”, his “gratitude” to Trump for “his brave vision, his historic actions against this narco-terrorist regime, to begin to dismantle this structure and bring Maduro to justice.”
In this sense, he has pointed out that “30 million Venezuelans are now closer to freedom” and that “the United States is also now a safer country”, while he has delved into the fact that he would like to say “personally” to Trump that “the Venezuelan people, since this prize (the Nobel Peace Prize) belongs to the Venezuelan people, want to give it to him and share it with him.”
“What he has done is historic, it is an enormous step towards a democratic transition,” said the opponent, who noted that “a free Venezuela means a security ally” for the United States. Furthermore, he has stated that the overthrow of the current Government would imply “dismantling the criminal network in America and turning it into a security shield” and “turning Venezuela into the energy network of America.”
ASK FOR A TRANSITION
Machado has insisted that the fall of ‘Chavismo’ would open the door to “the opening of markets” to “foreign investments” and an “open society” in which the rule of law governs, before highlighting that it would also mean that the South American country would become “the main ally of the United States” in the region.
On the other hand, he has criticized the decision of the Venezuelan authorities to declare a state of external commotion after the US attack, a measure that includes an immediate search and arrest order for anyone who promotes or supports the attack by the United States Armed Forces against the South American country.
“It is very alarming,” said Machado, who has defended that “the transition must advance” and has charged against the current president in charge of the country, Delcy Rodríguez, who took office on Monday given that the Constitution governs that the person who occupies the Vice Presidency is the one who assumes the head of State in the event of a vacancy in the position.
“Rodríguez is one of the main architects of torture, persecution, corruption and drug trafficking,” he denounced, before describing the politician as “the main ally and link with Russia, China and Iran.” “Not a person that international investors should trust,” he said, before ensuring that the opposition “would win with more than 90 percent of the votes” if “free and fair elections” were held.
TRUMP’S REMOVAL
Machado’s words come days after Trump himself ruled out the idea of working with her in the face of a transition after the capture of Maduro, who appeared before a New York court on Monday, arguing that “he does not have the support or respect (necessary) within the country.”
Sources cited by the American newspaper ‘The Washington Post’ indicated that Trump’s decision to sideline the opponent stems from his discomfort over her accepting the Nobel Peace Prize, which the president has claimed on several occasions for himself.
Machado was awarded the 2025 Nobel Peace Prize for her opposition role in Venezuela and in recent weeks she has defended on several occasions the need for the United States to launch military attacks against the South American country to overthrow Maduro and open a transition process.
The opponent, whose candidacy for the 2024 elections was rejected – which resulted in the candidate being Edmundo González – traveled to Oslo in December to receive the award and since then has not returned to the country, although she has assured on several occasions that she will do so “as soon as possible”, without it being clear for now when the displacement will take place.