Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado celebrated the US capture of dictator Nicolás Maduro Saturday, saying in her first public comment the “hour of freedom has arrived.”
“The time has come for popular sovereignty and national sovereignty to govern our country. We will restore order, free the political prisoners, build an exceptional country, and bring our children back home,” Machado said in her first public statement since the historic arrest.
“We have fought for years, we have given everything, and it has been worth it. What had to happen is happening.”
Machado has publicly endorsed President Trump’s military actions against Maduro’s leadership — most recently lauding his recent seizure of a vessel transporting oil out of her home country as part of his plan to oust Maduro.
“Given his refusal to accept a negotiated exit, the government of the United States has fulfilled its promise to enforce the law,” she wrote.
“We have struggled for years, we have given it our all, and it has been worth it. What had to happen is happening.”
Here’s the latest on Nicolás Maduro’s capture:
- Trump says Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro, wife ‘captured’ after large-scale strikes
- Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro, wife indicted in US after capture, Trump’s $50M bounty
- Video shows Venezuela’s night sky engulfed in flames after US strikes, capture of dictator Nicolás Maduro
- Trump warned Maduro not to ‘f–k around with the US’ months before dictator’s capture
- Venezuelan opposition leader, 2025 Nobel Peace Prize winner Maria Corina Machado poised to take the place of Nicolas Maduro
Machado said she and Edmundo González, who the US has recognized as Venezuela’s President-elect, are vying to “immediately” lead the transitional government in the South American country.
“Today we are prepared to enforce our mandate and take power,” Machado continued.
“We are going to restore order, release the political prisoners, build an exceptional country, and bring our children back home.”
