Following her return to Caracas after more than ten months in exile, Venezuelan opposition leader and Nobel Peace Prize laureate María Corina Machado publicly thanked U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration for opening what she termed the “floodgate to freedom.”
Speaking at a press conference, Machado credited the January U.S. military operation that captured former leader Nicolás Maduro as a pivotal turning point for the nation, praising the vision and actions of Trump and U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
“Thanks to their vision, their courage, and their action on January 3, the floodgate to freedom has been opened,” Machado told a news conference in Caracas, naming Trump, his administration and Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
Rubio “has set out a sequence of events aimed at moving toward a democratic transition that makes clear the holding of presidential elections in 2027”, she said.
Machado has praised Trump before, presenting the president with her Nobel medal – a prize he feverishly coveted for himself in 2025.
Emphasizing the path forward, Machado urged authorities to establish a clear framework for democratic transition, declaring that presidential elections must be held in 2027. “The date of the election is the date of liberation,” she stated.
Despite her backing of Washington’s overarching security strategy, Machado also struck a cautionary note regarding ongoing geopolitical developments, expressing public skepticism over a recent controversial U.S.-Venezuela oil agreement and calling for greater institutional transparency.
Meanwhile, interim leadership under Delcy Rodríguez has affirmed that elections will eventually take place, setting the stage for a high-stakes political battle over the timeline and conditions of Venezuela’s post-Maduro future.
