Venezuela opposition leader María Corina Machado said she would “love” to “personally” give President Trump her Nobel Peace Prize — as she declared that the daring capture of dictator Nicolás Maduro will be remembered as the “day that justice defeated tyranny.”
Machado, who has been living in hiding under Maduro’s regime, told Fox News’ Sean Hannity on Monday night she has not spoken to Trump since October 10, the same day the prize was announced.
She was awarded the prize for her fight against what the Norwegian Nobel Committee called a dictatorship.
Machado, who dedicated the coveted award to Trump, said the president has now proven to the world that he deserved it.
“Let me be very clear,” Machado told Hannity, “as soon as I learned that we had been awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, I dedicated to Trump because I knew at that point, he deserved it. And lot of people, most people said it was impossible to achieve what he has just done on Saturday, January 3rd. And so, I believe he deserved it.”
She described the Trump administration’s capture on Maduro as “a huge step for humanity.”
“January 3 will go down in history as the day justice defeated tyranny,” she told the Fox News anchor. “It’s a milestone, and it’s not only huge for the Venezuelan people and our future, I think it’s a huge step for humanity, for freedom, and human dignity.”
Asked if she ever offered to give Trump her Nobel Prize, Machado said she hadn’t but is open to doing so.
“It hasn’t happened yet, but I would certainly love to be able to personally tell him that we, the Venezuelan people — because this is a prize of the Venezuelan people — certainly want to give it to him and share it with him,” Machado said.
However, Trump told the New York Post Sunday that he was not sure Machado had “the support of the people that she has to have,” when describing the decision to keep Venezuela in the hands of Maduro’s allies.
Here’s the latest on Nicolás Maduro’s capture:
- Toppled Venezuelan despot Nicolas Maduro declares himself ‘a decent man,’ claims he was ‘kidnapped’ by US forces as he pleads not guilty in NYC
- Pulling back the curtain on Nicolás Maduro’s ‘Latin Lady Macbeth’ wife Cilia Flores — a ‘fundamental figure in corruption’
- Ex-Venezuela spy chief, ‘The Chicken,’ could be star witness at Maduro’s trial: experts
- CIA concluded Maduro’s lackeys more likely to maintain order in Venezuela than opposition leader: report
Maduro’s vice president, Delcy Rodríguez, has been sworn in as the country’s interim president on Monday.
Rodríguez was found by the CIA to be much better positioned to maintain order in the troubled South American nation than Machado, the leader of Maduro’s opposition, the Wall Street Journal reported.
The intelligence agency found that Machado would have a difficult time establishing control over the government Maduro ruled for over 10 years, and would also likely face resistance from his paramilitary groups.
Meanwhile, the toppled tyrant and accused narco-terrorist defiantly claimed Monday he was “kidnapped” while making his historic first appearance in chains in Manhattan court — declaring, “I am a decent man.”
