Anti-socialist opposition leader and Nobel Peace Prize winner María Corina Machado on Thursday affirmed that Venezuela will become America’s greatest ally in the region once it finishes its transition back to democracy after nearly three decades of socialism.

She affirmed that the transition to democracy in Venezuela is “irreversible” but must be orderly and peaceful, stressing that socialism and corruption in the country must be dismantled for Venezuelans’ lives to improve.

Machado, the leader of the center-right Vente Venezuela party, returned to her country on October 25 after spending almost a year in exile, welcomed by a large gathering that accompanied her caravan through several Venezuelan states before arriving at the capital city of Caracas. On Thursday afternoon, she held a press conference with local and international media hosted by the Andrés Bello Catholic University (UCAB) in Caracas, where she once studied in her youth.

At the beginning of her conference, the Nobel Peace Prize laureate thanked President Donald Trump and U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio for their vision, courage, and actions that led to the capture of socialist Dictator Nicolás Maduro on January 3.

Thanks to his arrest, Machado stressed, a “door of freedom” has been opened in Venezuela, which will allow the country to become the “greatest ally the United States will ever have in our region.”

She also thanked those who helped her return to the country, Venezuelans who placed their trust in her, and all democratic governments and organizations around the world that have supported the Venezuelan cause — making special mention of Panama’s conservative President José Raúl Mulino and his administration for safeguarding the vote tallies that demonstrated Maduro’s fraud in the 2024 sham election. As a devout Catholic, Machado emphasized that the Venezuelan fight is a spiritual, existential, and ethical one, thanking God for allowing her to be born in the country.

“My presence in Venezuela and what we have experienced over the past three days demonstrates, first and foremost, that the three-phase plan presented by President Trump is moving forward, and after just a few hours, the timelines have become clearer,” Machado said.

“Secretary of State Marco Rubio has outlined a sequence of steps aimed at advancing toward a democratic transition, which makes it clear that presidential elections will be held in 2027,” she continued, referring to recent remarks issued by a senior State Department official, who outlined a series of ongoing steps and talks toward a new election in the near future.

Over the next days, Machado detailed, she and her team will provide further details on projects and actions toward establishing a “network” that can guarantee the transition to democracy in Venezuela and ensure its governance. One of the goals, she said, will be to allow every Venezuelan with the right to vote the ability to participate in the next presidential election.

“We have all gathered here today because Venezuela is rising up with dignity and because, as I always tell you, this is a spiritual struggle, and we will walk hand in hand with God until the very end,” Machado said.

Asked by reporters on her relation with the region’s heads of state, Machado answered that she holds excellent relations with all presidents in the region, such as Colombia’s Abelardo de la Espriella, Argentina’s Javier Milei, Ecuador’s Daniel Noboa, Bolivia’s Rodrígo Paz, and Paraguay’s Santiago Peña, among others, noting that she “frequently” speaks to all of them. With regard to Brazil’s recently reelected socialist President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, however, Machado said that she has never spoken to him.

“That’s the reality; that’s the absolute truth, and I don’t think it’s been due to a lack of interest on my part,” she stressed.

Machado also affirmed to reporters that every entity that has legally signed agreements with Venezuela over the past months can be assured that their contracts will be respected — affirming that they will instead prefer new terms that her prospective administration will offer.

Asked if she considers that the Venezuelan constitution — implemented by the ruling socialists in 1999 — needs to undergo changes, the anti-socialist politician said the current core legal text contains “excessive presidentialism and militarism” that are cause of concern for her. One of the required changes, she said, is the return of presidential term limits in Venezuela.

Machado emphasized to reporters that the total dismantlement of the repressive apparatus in Venezuela is another priority, as well as the release of all remaining political prisoners. She reiterated that she would not have been able to hold the press conference and that all of the political prisoners released over the past months would still be imprisoned had it not been for the United States’ arrest of Nicolás Maduro on January 3.

“Do you really think I could be holding a press conference today? That you could be mentioning my name, just mentioning me, in your broadcasts?” she asked reporters.

Toward the end of the conference, Machado said a free Venezuela will become a focal point of stability in the region and will have a great ally in the United States, which will in return find in Venezuela a long-term ally that believes in freedom and democracy, with security for its investments.

“Venezuela will be free forever. Free forever. And we will walk hand in hand with God until the very end,” Machado declared. “I love you all very much. May God bless us. Thank you very much.”

International outlets observed that Machado’s press conference was freely broadcast in Venezuela by local private media — marking a significant change after the socialist regime had long forbidden broadcasters from featuring Machado under severe threats.

Christian K. Caruzo is a Venezuelan writer and documents life under socialism. You can follow him on Twitter here.