Caracas/Washington: Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado, who received the 2025 Nobel Peace Prize last week, has urged the United States to intensify efforts to end what she described as President Nicolás Maduro’s “war” on his own people.
Speaking to CNN’s Christiane Amanpour, Machado labelled Maduro the head of a “criminal narco-terrorism structure” and appealed directly to US President Donald Trump for “help” in removing him from power. She also praised Trump’s international peace efforts, saying he “absolutely deserves a Nobel Peace Prize.”
Rising Tensions and US Strikes
Her remarks come amid escalating hostilities between Washington and Caracas, following a series of US military strikes on vessels near Venezuela that the Trump administration claimed were “narco-trafficking” boats.
The latest strike, on Tuesday, reportedly killed six people.
Although the US has not provided evidence supporting its claims, Trump said he had authorized the CIA to operate inside Venezuela and signaled those military operations could expand “by land.” Caracas accuses Washington of attempting regime change under the guise of counter-narcotics operations.
Democracy, Exile, and Defiance
Machado remains in hiding after being barred from last year’s presidential race and facing a post-election crackdown. The Nobel Committee hailed her as “one of the most extraordinary examples of civilian courage in Latin America,” commending her struggle for a peaceful transition from dictatorship to democracy.
She dedicated her Nobel award to Trump, thanking him for his “decisive support,” and reiterated her claim that Venezuela has become a hub for drug, gold, arms, and human trafficking. Despite criticism that the scale of drug activity is overstated, Machado insists the crisis poses “a real threat to US national security.”
