CARACAS, Venezuela: Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado has announced plans to return to her country “as soon as possible,” while openly rejecting the interim president, Delcy Rodriguez, following the US military’s capture of President Nicolás Maduro.
Speaking from an undisclosed location on Fox News, Machado delivered her first public remarks since posting on social media over the weekend, when US forces forcibly removed Maduro from power. Machado, who recently traveled to Norway to receive the Nobel Peace Prize, emphasized her determination to return home after a brief absence.
“I’m planning to go back to Venezuela as soon as possible,” Machado said. She sharply criticized Rodriguez, Maduro’s former vice president, describing her as “one of the main architects of torture, persecution, corruption, [and] narcotrafficking.”
Machado asserted that Rodriguez is widely “rejected” by the Venezuelan people, arguing that opposition voters hold the country’s true mandate, according to AFP.
“In free and fair elections, we will win by over 90 per cent of the votes, I have no doubt about it,” Machado declared, highlighting her confidence in the opposition’s popular support. She also laid out ambitious plans for Venezuela’s future, including turning the country into “the energy hub of the Americas,” dismantling criminal networks, and facilitating the return of millions of Venezuelans forced to flee abroad.
Machado confirmed she has not spoken with US President Donald Trump since October 2025, stating, “Actually, I spoke with President Trump on October 10, the same day the Nobel Peace Prize was announced, [but] not since then.” She credited her Nobel recognition to her fight against what the Norwegian Nobel Committee described as a dictatorship.
While Machado welcomed the US action against Maduro as “a huge step for humanity, for freedom and human dignity,” she acknowledged that Trump has dismissed the idea of collaborating with her, saying she “doesn’t have the support within or the respect within the country.”
Machado’s remarks underline her determination to assert the opposition’s role in Venezuela’s political future, positioning herself as a central figure in the nation’s ongoing struggle for democracy and stability.
