Things are looking up in Venezuela. One of the key leaders in the Venezuelan opposition to thug-dictator Nicolás Maduro, the Nobel Peace Prize-winning María Corina Machado, is now planning her return to the embattled country. Her goal: To establish an honest representative government with honest elections.
Those are things Venezuela really needs.
María Corina Machado will return to Venezuela within a few weeks, she announced Sunday, as the Venezuelan opposition leader seeks a role in her country’s democratic transition.
Machado made her first public appearance in nearly a year in December, emerging from hiding to accept her Nobel Peace Prize in Oslo. She later presented President Donald Trump with the prize during a meeting at the White House in January as a token of her appreciation for his support, despite the Nobel committee saying the prize could not be transferred.
“The world now knows: the transition to democracy in Venezuela is unstoppable,” she said in a video posted to social media in Spanish. “For years we said this regime would only relinquish power when confronted with real force and a credible threat. First, we had to defeat them spiritually, then politically, then electorally, and finally, militarily. We said it would happen, and it happened.”
We might note (again) that her return was made possible by the Trump administration’s capture and jailing of the dictator Maduro, broadly seen as an example of President Trump’s signature Donroe Doctrine.
Machado has repeatedly courted Trump’s support for her opposition movement as his administration works with acting President Delcy Rodríguez, the former vice president and a close ally of ousted leader Nicolás Maduro. But Machado’s chances of being installed as the country’s leader have dwindled in recent months, with the White House growing increasingly frustrated with her rhetoric.
Machado told POLITICO in an exclusive interview last month that Venezuela could hold new democratic elections in less than a year, a prediction that rankled administration allies who worried her remarks could undercut the White House’s workplan in Venezuela.
It’s hard to see a downside in a nation holding honest elections.
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The presidency of Maduro’s former second-in-command was never going to last, and indeed, if Venezuela is to turn this corner – as I’ve been saying and writing ever since Maduro was bagged by American special operations forces – all remnants of the old regime must be swept away. Machado is certain to be a key figure in rebuilding Venezuela, and even prior to Maduro’s ouster, was seeking help from the United States in meeting her goals.
To that end, Machado said in a recent interview:
“The regime that is in Venezuela today has the same nature; they are the ones who have tortured, persecuted, imprisoned, disappeared, murdered, expropriated and lied,” Machado said in the video. “They want to buy time so that nothing changes. But everything changed. And now, they must follow instructions to move forward with the dismantling of the repression, the economic recovery of our country, and advance towards the transition.”
It’s easy to see her viewpoint here. Venezuela looks like it’s finally taking a long-overdue step (or several) ahead. Can we hope for Iran to follow their example?
Editor’s Note: Thanks to President Trump and his administration’s bold leadership, we are respected on the world stage, and our enemies are being put on notice.
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