Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado — who was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize Friday — said she is counting on President Trump now “more than ever” as her movement is on the “threshold of victory.”
“This immense recognition of the struggle of all Venezuelans is an impetus to conclude our task: to conquer Freedom,” she told The Post in a statement from her South American hideout after the Norwegian Nobel Committee announced her win.
“We are on the threshold of victory and today more than ever we count on President Trump, the people of the United States, the peoples of Latin America, and the democratic nations of the world as our main allies to achieve Freedom and democracy,” she added.
Machado, dubbed Venezuela’s “Iron Lady,” has been in hiding for over 14 months after refusing to concede her loss to Nicolas Maduro in a widely-criticized election.
However, Machado, who has refused to flee Venezuela, has continued putting pressure on the Maduro government from the underground — leading the push for free elections, freedom of speech and exposing human rights abuses.
She said last month that her greatest hope for toppling Maduro’s regime is President Trump, who has ordered the military to target Venezuelan-based narco ships and is building up the US naval presence in the Caribbean.
“I totally support [Trump’s] strategy. And I’ve said on behalf of the Venezuelan people that we are very grateful. I think it is the right thing to do. It’s courageous. It’s visionary,” she told The Times of London last month.
So far, the US military has carried four deadly strikes in the Caribbean since it increased its maritime forces for what Trump has declared an “armed conflict” with drug cartels.
Venezuela’s government on Thursday requested an emergency session of the United Nations Security Council focused on the US military’s actions, accusing Trump of attempting to oust Maduro.
