Venezuelan opposition leader and Nobel Peace Prize Laureate María Corina Machado said on a Saturday morning statement that “the time has come for sovereignty” following the capture of socialist dictator Nicolás Maduro by U.S. forces.
Machado, who escape from Venezuela in December with the help of President Donald trump’s administration, released a statement in Spanish on her official social media accounts stating that, from today onwards, Maduro faces “international justice for the heinous crimes committed against Venezuelans and citizens of many other nations.”
Given his refusal to accept a negotiated solution, the United States government has fulfilled its promise to enforce the law,” she wrote.
“The time has come for popular sovereignty and national sovereignty to rule in our country. We are going to restore order, free political prisoners, build an exceptional country, and bring our children back home,” she continued. “We have fought for years, we have given everything, and it has been worth it. What had to happen is happening.”
Machado stressed that this is the “hour of the citizens” who risked everything for democracy in the July 28, 2024, sham election. Machado won the 2025 Nobel Peace Prize for organizing a nationwide clandestine network that collected voter tallies at the local level to demonstrate that, in reality, opposition candidate Edmundo González defeated Maduro in a landslide.
Machado called upon Edmundo González to be recognized as commander-in-chief of the Venezuelan Armed Forces — emphasizing that “we are prepared to assert our mandate and take power.”
“To Venezuelans within our country, be ready to implement what we will soon communicate to you through our official channels,” Machado wrote. “To Venezuelans abroad, we need you to mobilize, activate the governments and citizens of the world, and commit them now to the great operation of building the new Venezuela.”
“In these decisive hours, receive all my strength, my confidence, and my love. Let us all remain alert and in contact. VENEZUELA WILL BE FREE! We are going hand in hand with God, until the end,” she concluded.
An English translation of Machado’s statement was posted by a supporter:
President Trump announced on early Saturday morning that Nicolás Maduro and his wife Cilia Flores were “captured and flown out of the country.” For years, Maduro was actively wanted by U.S. authorities on multiple narco-terrorism charges. Hours later. Attorney General Pam Bondi announced Maduro and Flores “will soon face the full wrath of American justice on American soil in American courts.”