Venezuelan opposition leader Machado reacts to Maduro’s capture by US military forces
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Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado said that January 3 will be remembered as “the day justice defeated tyranny” after America captured dictator Nicolas Maduro.
US forces have captured the dictator and his wife, Cilia Flores, following successful “large-scale” military strikes targeting him, the Trump administration announced Saturday. Venezuelan government. The dictator and his wife are currently being held in New York while awaiting trial on narco-terrorism charges against them.
“January 3 will go down in history as the day justice defeated tyranny,” Machado told “Hannity” on Monday. “This is a turning point and I think it’s a big step not only for the Venezuelan people and our future, but also for humanity, freedom and human dignity.”
MARÍA CORINA MACHADO EMERGES AS THE HIGHEST POTENTIAL SUCCESSOR AFTER MÁDURO’S FALL
Nobel Peace Prize winner Maria Corina Machado waves at the Grand Hotel early Thursday, December 11, 2025, in Oslo, Norway. (Lice Åserud/NTB Scanpix via AP)
Machado told Fox News that the victory was “historic” and a “huge step” toward a democratic transition in the country.
“A free Venezuelan “Firstly, a security ally that dismantles the criminal center of the Americas and turns it into a security shield means the strongest ally that will eliminate all these criminal structures that cause so much harm and damage to our people and the American people,” he said. “Secondly, we will make Venezuela the energy center of the Americas. We will bring the rule of law. We will open the markets. We will guarantee foreign investment. Third, we will repatriate the millions of Venezuelans who had to flee their country to build a strong nation, a prosperous nation, and an open society. we will [leave] “This socialist regime, behind all the destruction that the criminal regime has brought to our people, has made Venezuela the main ally of the United States in Latin America.”
Machado’s fight for a free Venezuela is not new. The political leader ran against Maduro and overwhelmingly won the primaries, but was later barred from running by the government. to replace Edmundo González after all, he ran instead.
Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado waves the national flag during a protest called by the opposition on the eve of the presidential inauguration in Caracas on January 9, 2025. (JUAN BARRETO/AFP via Getty Images)
“It was a miracle,” he recalled. “Everyone told us that it was impossible to hold independent elections through the primary process, and by bringing the country together, we were able to hold these elections organized by civil society and attended by millions of people. … He was afraid of us in a cowardly way. Maduro was afraid of me. So he thought that by banning me he would prevent us from winning, but the opposite happened. Edmundo González Urrutia, replacing me, we went all over the country and managed to bring together a country and defeat Maduro. In a landslide … under extreme conditions, under unfair conditions.”
Machado’s fight for freedom in Venezuela was recognized with the Nobel Peace Prize, which he dedicated to President Donald Trump at the reception.
Nobel Peace Prize winner Maria Corina Machado speaks at a press conference at the Norwegian government representative facilities in Oslo on December 11, 2025. (Photo: Odd ANDERSEN / AFP via Getty Images)
“I dedicated it to President Trump because I believed he deserved it at that point,” he explained. “A lot of people, a lot of people, said it was impossible to accomplish what he did on Saturday, January 3rd. So if I thought he deserved it in October, imagine now. I think he’s proven to the world what he means.”
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Machado expressed hope that the country’s future would improve following the Trump administration’s actions.
“Today, on behalf of the Venezuelan people, I want to say how grateful we are for his courageous vision, his actions, his historic actions against this narco-terrorist regime to dismantle this structure and bring Maduro to justice. Venezuelans “We’re closer to freedom now, but we also think the United States is a safer country these days.”
