Machado pushes for peaceful transition after Maduro
Nobel Peace Prize laureate and Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado said on Friday that President Nicolás Maduro will leave power, whether through negotiation or not. She emphasized that her goal is a peaceful and orderly transition for Venezuela.
Machado spoke in Oslo, where she arrived on Thursday after defying a 10-year travel ban and more than a year spent in hiding. Her visit followed the Nobel award ceremony, where she was honored for her advocacy for democratic change, News.Az reports, citing Reuters.
“Maduro will leave power, whether it is negotiated or not,” Machado said in Spanish during a press conference alongside Norwegian officials. “I am focused on a peaceful transition.”
Machado was barred from participating in last year’s presidential election despite winning the opposition primary by a landslide. She went underground after authorities intensified arrests of opposition figures following the contested vote.
Venezuela’s electoral authority and top court declared Maduro the winner, but international observers and the opposition dispute the result. The opposition has released ballot-box-level data that it says proves its candidate won.
After receiving the Nobel Peace Prize in October, Machado dedicated it partly to U.S. President Donald Trump, who has claimed he deserved the prize himself.
Machado has aligned with Trump-aligned hawks who argue that Maduro maintains ties to criminal networks that threaten U.S. national security — a claim viewed skeptically by U.S. intelligence agencies.
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