OSLO, Norway — Venezuelan opposition leader and Nobel Peace Prize laureate Maria Corina Machado said she has not spoken with President Donald Trump since Oct. 10, 2025, and vowed to return to Venezuela “as soon as possible” after a U.S. operation seized Nicolás Maduro, Jan. 6, 2026.
In a Reuters report on her Fox News interview, Maria Corina Machado said her last contact with Trump came the day her Nobel was announced, and she welcomed the U.S. action as “a huge step for humanity, for freedom and human dignity.”
Trump described the weekend mission as an overnight extraction from Caracas in an official Pentagon News release. ABC News reported explosions in the capital and quoted Trump as saying the United States carried out a “large scale strike,” a move that set off immediate questions about what comes next for governance and civilian safety.
Maduro was flown to New York and pleaded not guilty in Manhattan federal court, according to an Associated Press account of the arraignment. In court, Maduro protested his arrest and declared himself Venezuela’s constitutional president, while his wife, Cilia Flores, also pleaded not guilty and appeared with injuries her attorney said were sustained during the capture.
Diplomatically, the shockwaves have been swift. Reuters described the U.N. debate in which Secretary-General Antonio Guterres raised concerns about instability and the legality of the operation, while U.S. officials framed it as a targeted law enforcement action rather than an occupation.
Maria Corina Machado faces a narrowing window to shape the transition
Back in Caracas, Vice President Delcy Rodriguez was sworn in as interim president, creating a new power center even as Washington signals it is not eager to elevate Maria Corina Machado. Trump dismissed the idea of working with Maria Corina Machado, saying she lacks sufficient support inside Venezuela — a public split that could complicate any effort to convert Maduro’s removal into an internationally recognized transfer of authority.
For Maria Corina Machado, the urgency is both political and symbolic: returning home would reinforce her claim to represent a democratic alternative, but it would also expose her to risks in a country still filled with armed institutions and competing loyalties.
Maria Corina Machado’s long fight against Maduro
The moment caps a turbulent trajectory that predates the raid by years. Maria Corina Machado was formally declared the winner of the opposition’s 2023 presidential primary, Reuters reported at the time, even as Maduro’s government warned foreign diplomats against “interference” and prosecutors opened investigations into the vote.
Months later, Venezuela’s top court upheld a ban preventing Maria Corina Machado from holding public office, according to Reuters, a ruling that reshaped the opposition’s strategy and underscored the institutional barriers she faced long before the United States moved militarily.
Now, Maria Corina Machado is trying to translate personal credibility — and the visibility that came with the Nobel — into a role in whatever transition emerges. Whether her return becomes a catalyst for elections or a flashpoint for renewed confrontation may depend less on her words than on who holds power in Caracas in the days ahead.
