Venezuelan opposition leader and Nobel laureate María Corina Machado said on Thursday that the United States’ actions, including the seizure of an oil tanker, have weakened President Nicolás Maduro’s repressive government. Machado pledged to return to her country to fight for democracy.
Machado was speaking to reporters just hours after she emerged in public for the first time in 11 months of hiding, following her arrival in Oslo, Norway, where her daughter accepted the Nobel Peace Prize on her behalf on Wednesday.
She said that the actions of US President Donald Trump “have been decisive to reach where we are now, where the regime is significantly weaker. Because before, the regime thought it had impunity …. Now they start to understand that this is serious, and that the world is watching.”
The Nobel laureate dodged questions on the necessity of an American military involvement to overthrow Maduro. Reporters were informed that she would go back to Venezuela “when we believe the security conditions are right, and it won’t depend on whether or not the regime leaves.”
Machado made her first public appearance early on Thursday, stepping from a hotel balcony and waving to an emotional crowd of supporters after arriving in Oslo just hours after the award ceremony on Wednesday. After joining supporters during a rally in Caracas on Jan 9, she was briefly detained and went into hiding.
With the Trump administration conducting deadly military operations in the Caribbean and making repeated threats to attack Venezuelan territory, Machado left at a pivotal moment in the nation’s lengthy conflict. The operations, which have claimed over 80 lives, are intended to halt the flow of drugs into the US, according to the White House.
However, many regard the operations as an attempt to weaken Maduro’s grasp on power, including experts, members of the US Congress, and Maduro himself. Machado’s opposition has further strengthened this impression by reiterating its pledge to take power soon.
Trump said on Wednesday that the US had taken control of an oil tanker off the coast of Venezuela. Machado urged states to show more than just verbal support for the opposition in Venezuela on Thursday.
“We, the Venezuelan people that have tried every single, you know, institutional mean, ask support from the democratic nations in the world to cut those resources that come from illegal activities and support repressive approaches.
“And that’s why we are certainly asking the world to act. It’s not a matter of statements, as you say, its a matter of action,” she said.
After launching the most significant nonviolent challenge to Maduro’s authoritative regime in years, Machado, 58, was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in October. Her daughter, Ana Corina Sosa, accepted the award on her behalf at a ceremony in Oslo.
Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre welcomed Machado to Oslo on Thursday and announced that his nation is prepared to assist a democratic Venezuela in “building new and sound institutions.”
When the Nobel laureate was asked by reporters if the Venezuelan government had been aware of her whereabouts since January, she replied, “I don’t think they have known where I have been, and certainly they would have done everything to stop me from coming here.”
She refused to give details of her travel from Venezuela to Norway. However, she expressed gratitude to “all those men and women that risked their lives so that I could be here today” and subsequently admitted that she received assistance from the US government.
According to flight tracking information, Machado’s aircraft traveled from Bangor, Maine, to Oslo.
Machado planned to run against Maduro in last year’s presidential election after winning an opposition primary, but the government barred her from doing so. Edmundo González, a retired diplomat, replaced her.
Widespread repression, including disqualifications, arrests, and human rights violations, occurred in the run-up to the election on July 28, 2024. This grew after the incumbent was proclaimed the winner by the nation’s National Electoral Council, which is dominated by Maduro supporters.
After a Venezuelan court issued an arrest warrant for González last year, he sought asylum in Spain.
How Machado and González could get back to Venezuela is not clear. The opposition’s effort to restore González prior to the event on Jan 10 that granted Maduro a second term failed.
“We decided to fight until the end and Venezuela will be free. I will be with my people and they will not know where I am. We have ways to do that and take care of us,” Machado said while sitting alongside the Norwegian prime minister.