Venezuelan Opposition Leader Machado Shares Who She Thinks Should Lead After Maduro Capture – RedState
The leading political voice of opposition to Venezuelan dictator Nicolás Maduro is speaking out in the wake of the illegitimate president’s capture by the United States, as RedState reported on Saturday.
In December 2025, in Oslo, Norway, while accepting the Nobel Peace Prize alongside Venezuela’s duly elected president, Edmundo González, for her role in leading the opposition to now-captured Venezuelan dictator Maduro, Maria Corina Machado called for the strongman’s removal and, as my colleague Ward Clark wrote at the time, “is already giving the Trump administration support for the pressure exerted on Maduro”:
María Corina Machado said she believed US President Donald Trump’s actions had been “decisive” in weakening the regime of Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro.
“I believe that every country has the right to defend itself, and in our case, I believe that President Trump’s actions were decisive in getting to the point where we are now, where the regime is weaker than ever,” Machado said.
READ MORE: Trump announces capture of Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro and his wife following ‘large-scale’ US strike
Opposition leader Machado: End Maduro’s reign of repression now
Here’s another relevant part of his Oslo remarks, and it ably refutes current criticism that the United States is “invading” Venezuela:
“Some people talk about an invasion of Venezuela… I answer, Venezuela has already been invaded. We have Russian agents, Iranian agents, terrorist groups like Hezbollah, Hamas, who operate freely in agreement with the regime…” #Venezuela pic.twitter.com/1CQt2EOk6q
–Terry Newman (@TLNewmanMTL) January 3, 2026
“Look, some people are talking about invasion in Venezuela and threat of invasion in Venezuela and I responded that Venezuela has already been invaded,” Machado said.
“We have Russian agents, we have Iranian agents. We have terrorist groups like Hezbollah, Hamas, which operate freely in agreement with the regime,” she continued. She then spoke about the forces inside the country that have “transformed Venezuela into the criminal hub of the Americas.”
The Nobel Prize winner said that “what sustained the regime was a very powerful and heavily financed system of repression.”
Machado then explained where these funds come from: drug trafficking, black market oil sales, arms trafficking and human trafficking, explaining that “we must cut off these flows” for the regime to be “finished.”
Saturday was well and truly over for Maduro’s corrupt and repressive regime. During a press conference, Pres. Trump said that in the short term, Venezuela would be led by the United States and a “group.”
READ MORE: Night Stalkers Over Caracas: How US Special Forces Pulled Off the Perfect Raid
Breaking News: Trump briefs the world on ‘Operation Absolute Resolve’ – and reveals who will now lead Venezuela
My colleague Ward Clark speculated that Machado might be the best choice to take the reins next. But now we have a statement with Maria Corina Machado’s own perspective after Maduro’s ouster.
Translated from Spanish, his message on X begins: “Venezuelans, the time for freedom has arrived.”
Venezuelans have reached the hour of freedom. pic.twitter.com/ehy20V1xm9
– María Corina Machado (@MariaCorinaYA) January 3, 2026
“Today we are ready to enforce our mandate and take power,” Machado said in his first public comments Saturday.
“We will restore order, free political prisoners, build an exceptional country and bring our children home.”
…
Machado celebrated Maduro’s capture on Saturday.
“The time has come for popular sovereignty and national sovereignty to govern our country. We will restore order, free political prisoners, build an exceptional country and bring our children home,” Machado wrote in a statement.
“We fought for years, we gave everything and it was worth it. What was supposed to happen is happening.”
Many parts of this story are still developing. As the NY Post article linked above notes, Machado expressed his willingness to accept the country’s vice president as the leader of the transition:
He [Trump] indicated that [sic] spoke with Vice President Delcy Rodríguez – who is due to take power after Maduro’s arrest in accordance with the Venezuelan constitution – and that she reassured him of her willingness “to do what is necessary to make Venezuela great again.”
We will keep you informed.
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