Venezuelan opposition leader and Nobel Peace Prize laureate María Corina Machado said Saturday that she is prepared to lead her country through a democratic transition following the capture of President Nicolás Maduro by U.S. forces in a dramatic overnight raid on Caracas.
In her first public statement since the operation, Machado declared, “Venezuelans, the time for freedom has come!” She called Maduro a “tyrant” who would now face international justice “for the horrific crimes committed against Venezuelans and citizens of many other nations.”
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Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado
(Photo: Rune Hellestad/Getty Images)
Machado praised the United States for acting after Maduro refused to accept a peaceful resolution. “The U.S. government kept its promise to enforce the law,” she wrote. President Donald Trump announced Saturday that U.S. forces would temporarily administer Venezuela until a “safe, proper and judicious transition” to civilian rule could be secured.
The 58-year-old opposition leader, who fled Venezuela in late 2024 under threat of arrest, said the country must now restore order, release political prisoners and begin rebuilding. “We will bring our children home. We have fought for years, and it was worth it. What was meant to happen is happening,” she said.
Machado called for opposition candidate Edmundo González Urrutia—exiled after the disputed July 2024 elections—to be recognized as Venezuela’s legitimate president and commander-in-chief. “This is the moment for the citizens. Those of us who risked everything for democracy on July 28, those who elected González Urrutia—he must now immediately receive his constitutional mandate and be acknowledged by the armed forces.”
She urged Venezuelans inside and outside the country to remain organized and vigilant as the transition unfolds. “We are ready to take power. To those abroad: mobilize, engage governments and people around the world to take part in building the new Venezuela.”
Machado also offered a personal message: “Please accept all my strength, faith and love. We remain alert and in contact. Venezuela will be free. We go hand in hand with God, to the end.”
A longtime critic of Maduro and his predecessor Hugo Chávez, Machado has spent two decades in opposition politics. In 2023, she won her party’s primary and was declared the opposition’s presidential candidate for 2024, but was later barred from running by Venezuela’s Supreme Court. In August, fearing for her life, she went into hiding.
According to The Wall Street Journal, Machado escaped Venezuela in December, disguised in a wig and using a smuggler network. She reportedly passed through 10 military checkpoints before fleeing by boat to Curaçao and flying on to Oslo to receive the Nobel Peace Prize. The escape operation, reportedly coordinated with the Trump administration, lasted nearly two months.
In October, the Nobel Committee awarded Machado the Peace Prize for her “tireless work to advance democratic rights for the people of Venezuela and her struggle for a just and peaceful transition from dictatorship.” The $1.2 million prize was presented in a December 10 ceremony in Oslo.
Machado’s win came despite President Trump’s own heavily publicized campaign for the prize. After the announcement, the White House criticized the committee for “prioritizing politics over peace,” though Machado has been described as an ally of Trump and publicly dedicated the award to him.