María Corina Machado Archives

The U.S. capture of Venezuelan dictator Nicolás Maduro set in motion what could be the “equivalent to the fall of the Berlin Wall in the Americas,” the country’s opposition leader says.

For the first time in history, the Americas could be free of “communism, dictatorship, and narco-terrorism,” María Corina Machado said Friday during a press conference at The Heritage Foundation in Washington, D.C.

Machado went into hiding following the July 2024 presidential election in Venezuela. Maduro, the incumbent socialist ruler of Venezuela, declared himself the winner despite widespread claims that he lost and Machado won.

Neither the U.S. nor the European Union recognized Maduro as the legitimate president of Venezuela following the election.

Following the U.S. capture of Maduro, who is being held in New York on federal charges that include illegal drug trafficking and narco-terrorism, there has been widespread speculation over Machado’s future as leader of the South American country.

Delcy Rodriguez, who was Maduro’s vice president, is now serving as the acting president of Venezuela, and most of Maduro’s regime remains in place.

Machado met with President Donald Trump at the White House Thursday, and assured the Venezuelan people that “Venezuela is going to be free, and that’s going to be achieved with the support of the people of the United States.”

Asked if she spoke with Trump about a transition of power in Venezuela, Machado said it is “not about me.”

“It is about the will of the people,” Machado said, adding she talked with Trump about the “terrible conditions” people have been living under in Venezuela and “how the regime stole that result” of the previous election, adding, “and I think he can certainly relate to that.”

Trump “understands the moment and the implication for I would say the whole hemisphere,” the Venezuelan opposition leader said.

Not only has Venezuela had a socialist regime for decades, but it has also empowered other dictatorial nations such as Cuba, according to foreign policy experts.

Venezuela and Cuba remained close both politically and economically under the Maduro regime, according to Andrés Martínez-Fernández, senior policy analyst for Latin America at The Heritage Foundation.

“Venezuela has been the main artery for the inflow of financing to Cuba in the form of oil, primarily, and that has enabled Cuba to weather a dramatic economic crisis, long-standing economic crisis, and social unrest,” Martínez-Fernández previously told The Daily Signal.

If Venezuela achieves freedom for its people, the implications for the hemisphere will be “historic,” according to Machado.

AUTHOR

Virginia Allen

Virginia Allen is a senior news producer for The Daily Signal and host of “The Daily Signal Podcast” and “Problematic Women.” Send an email to Virginia. Virginia on X: @Virginia_Allen5.

Venezuelan Warns His Country ‘Isn’t Free Yet’

Trump Weighs US Action in 5 Other Nations Following Capture of Maduro

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Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado dedicated her Nobel Peace Prize on Friday to President Donald Trump for his “decisive support” of their cause.

The Norwegian Nobel Committee (NNC) granted the prize Friday to Machado for “promoting democratic rights for the people of Venezuela and for her struggle to achieve a just and peaceful transition from dictatorship to democracy,” according to a press release. Machado promptly dedicated her prize to “the suffering people of Venezuela” and the American president.

Trump has long sought a Nobel Peace Prize. The prize was handed out to Monchado days after a peace deal negotiated by Trump was agreed upon between Hamas and Israel, potentially ending the two-year conflict.

“This recognition of the struggle of all Venezuelans is a boost to conclude our task: to conquer freedom,” Monchado wrote on X.

This recognition of the struggle of all Venezuelans is a boost to conclude our task: to conquer Freedom.

We are on the threshold of victory and today, more than ever, we count on President Trump, the people of the United States, the peoples of Latin America, and the democratic…

— María Corina Machado (@MariaCorinaYA) October 10, 2025

“We are on the threshold of victory and today, more than ever, we count on President Trump, the people of the United States, the peoples of Latin America, and the democratic nations of the world as our principal allies to achieve Freedom and democracy,” she continued. “I dedicate this prize to the suffering people of Venezuela and to President Trump for his decisive support for our cause!”

The prize was handed out days after the first phase of a peace deal negotiated in part by Trump’s administration was agreed upon between Hamas and Israel, potentially ending the two-year conflict.

A statement from Machado said she dedicates the prize “to the suffering people of Venezuela and to President Trump.”

Trump showed support for Machado in January for “peacefully expressing the voices and the WILL of the Venezuelan people with hundreds of thousands of people demonstrating against the regime.”

Machado was praised by the committee for standing up against Venezuela’s “brutal, authoritarian state” for years.

She secured election to the country’s National Assembly back in 2010, The New York Times (NYT) reported. Although nearly 8 million people have fled the country, Machado stayed behind to run as the opposition presidential candidate against President Nicolas Maduro, according to the committee.

Machado’s candidacy was blocked by the regime over allegations of financial irregularities from her time as a legislator and she endorsed another candidate in 2024, the NYT reported.

Machado mobilized observers across the country to ensure election transparency. The committee described the opposition’s efforts in Venezeuala as “innovative and brave, peaceful and democratic.”

The opposition claimed that they had won the election, but Maduro refused to step down, according to the NYT.

“María Corina Machado meets all three criteria stated in Alfred Nobel’s will for the selection of a Peace Prize laureate. She has brought her country’s opposition together. She has never wavered in resisting the militarization of Venezuelan society. She has been steadfast in her support for a peaceful transition to democracy,” the committee said.

Those three criteria are disarmament, a brotherhood between nations and peace congresses, according to the Nobel Peace Center.

Editor’s note: Article updated with additional information from The New York Times.

AUTHOR

Derek VanBuskirk

Reporter

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