Venezuelan opposition leader and Nobel Peace Prize laureate María Corina Machado on Thursday praised US President Donald Trump and his administration for the January operation that removed former president Nicolás Maduro from power, saying it had opened a “floodgate to freedom”.
Speaking at a news conference in Caracas, Machado thanked Trump and US Secretary of State Marco Rubio for their roles in Maduro’s ouster, saying their actions had created an opportunity for a democratic transition.
“Thanks to their vision, their courage, and their action on January 3, the floodgate to freedom has been opened,” she said, referring to Trump, his administration and Rubio.
Machado said Rubio had outlined a series of steps towards a democratic transition that included presidential elections in 2027.
“Secretary of State Marco Rubio has laid out a sequence of steps for moving towards a democratic transition that makes clear that presidential elections will be held in 2027,” she said.
The United States has proposed holding elections next year, Machado said. She added that all eligible Venezuelans should be able to vote.
Machado returned to Venezuela on Sunday after more than 10 months abroad. She left the country in December to receive the Nobel Peace Prize in Norway, having spent more than a year in hiding amid a government crackdown on the opposition.
She has previously praised Trump for the US operation that captured Maduro and presented him with her Nobel medal during a visit to Washington.
