Nobel laureate Maria Machado says her coalition should rule Venezuela

Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado said her coalition should “absolutely” take charge of the country, following the ouster of President Nicolas Maduro by the United States last week.

“We are ready and willing to serve our people as we have been mandated,” Machado said in an interview with CBS, the BBC’s US partner.

She thanked US President Donald Trump for his “leadership and courage” after US forces stormed Caracas and arrested Maduro, but said no one trusted the ousted president’s ally, who was named interim leader.

Machado and her opposition movement claimed victory in the hotly contested 2024 election, but Trump refused to back her, saying she lacked popular support.

The former lawmaker, who was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize last year, described the U.S. military action in Venezuela over the weekend as “a major step toward restoring prosperity, the rule of law and democracy to Venezuela.”

She said she had not spoken with Trump this year, but expressed gratitude to him for removing Maduro.

“President Trump’s leadership and courage has brought Nicolás Maduro to justice and that is huge,” she told CBS.

Despite his overtures, the US president has publicly rejected Machado as a credible successor to Maduro.

“I think it would be very difficult for her to be leader,” Trump said at a news conference a few days ago, referring to Machado.

“She doesn’t have the support or respect within the country. She’s a very nice woman, but she doesn’t have the respect.”

Machado, who has been in hiding for months after being blocked from running in Venezuela’s 2024 presidential elections, has previously called on opposition leader Edmundo González to take power following Maduro’s arrest.

Machado rallied support for González in the election, and vote tallies released by his party suggest he won by a landslide.

However, Maduro was declared president by the Venezuelan Electoral Council (CNE), a body dominated by government loyalists.

Despite this, the United States and dozens of other countries recognized González as president-elect.

David Smolansky, a spokesperson for Venezuela’s opposition, told BBC Radio 4’s Today program that there was no future for a well-functioning country without González and Machado in power.

“They could guarantee a democratic transition and they enjoy the respect of Venezuelans and several governments around the world,” he said.

Asked why he thought Trump had so far chosen to support Venezuela’s interim leader, Delcy Rodríguez – Maduro’s former vice president – rather than the opposition, Smolansky replied: “Every transition, when it starts, is not perfect. It’s complicated.”

He also responded to suggestions that a lack of opposition support within the military is one of the reasons Trump chose to support Rodríguez, saying that some members of the armed forces – currently serving and in exile – are willing to work with them.

Machado said no one trusted Rodríguez, telling CBS that Rodríguez was “one of the main architects… of the repression against innocent people” in the South American country.

“Everyone in Venezuela and abroad knows perfectly well who she is and the role she played,” Machado said.

Although Rodríguez, 56, was subject to U.S. sanctions for her ministerial roles in the Maduro administration, she has not been charged with any crimes by U.S. authorities.

Rodríguez was sworn in Monday, days after U.S. special forces breached Venezuelan security to arrest Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores.

Earlier Tuesday, Rodríguez rejected Trump’s claims that the United States was in control of Venezuela.

“The Venezuelan government runs our country, and no one else does,” she said in a televised speech. “There is no outside agent to govern Venezuela.”