Machado Plans Venezuela Return, Says Trump’s Pressure Has Weakened Maduro Regime

By Evgenia Filimianova

Venezuelan opposition figure and Nobel Peace Prize laureate María Corina Machado has said she plans to return to Venezuela despite security risks, adding that U.S. President Donald Trump’s pressure campaign has left Nicolás Maduro’s government “significantly weaker.”

Speaking to reporters in Oslo, Norway, on Dec. 11, Machado said she would go back to the country when she thinks “the security conditions are right,” adding that her decision “won’t depend on whether or not the regime leaves.”

Machado, a former presidential candidate and one of Venezuela’s most prominent dissidents, had not appeared publicly for 11 months. She traveled to Norway despite a travel ban imposed by the Maduro government in 2014 and amid uncertainty over her whereabouts.

She arrived in Oslo hours after the Nobel ceremony, where she was honored for her advocacy of democratic freedoms.

Machado credited Trump’s approach to Venezuela for weakening Maduro.

“I think that the actions of President Trump have been decisive to reach where we are now, where the regime is significantly weaker,” she said on Dec. 11.

“Because before, the regime thought it had impunity. … Now they start to understand that this is serious, and that the world is watching.”

Trump, speaking in October, said he spoke with Machado by phone the day she learned of her award.

“The person who actually got the Nobel Prize called today, called me, and said, ‘I’m accepting this in honor of you, because you really deserved it,’” Trump said.

Machado said she would return to Venezuela even if Maduro remains in power.

“Certainly, I will be with my people, and they will not know where I am. We have ways to do that and take care of us,” she said.

Growing US–Venezuela Tensions

Machado’s statements came as U.S.–Venezuela tensions have recently intensified.

On Dec. 10, Trump said the United States had seized an oil tanker off Venezuela’s coast, adding that the decision was taken for “a very good reason” and that details on its ownership would follow. The seizure marked another escalation in what his administration describes as a campaign to cut off illicit revenue streams to Maduro.

The move followed months of U.S. military actions targeting alleged narcotics smuggling vessels in the Caribbean Sea and eastern Pacific.

The U.S. buildup, the largest in the region in decades, is part of a broader strategy that Washington says is designed to disrupt cartels and transnational criminal networks.

Venezuelan authorities denounced the tanker seizure as “blatant theft” and vowed to “defend its sovereignty, natural resources, and national dignity with absolute determination,” saying they would bring the matter before international bodies.

Trump warned in a Nov. 29 post on Truth Social that airspace over and around Venezuela should be considered “closed in its entirety.”

Earlier this month, he told reporters during a Cabinet meeting that strikes on land were imminent.

“We’re going to start doing those strikes on land, too,” he said.

“You know, the land is much easier … and we know the routes they take. We know everything about them. We know where they live. We know where the bad ones live. And we’re going to start that very soon, too.”

Maduro has repeatedly accused Washington of seeking to overthrow him and seize Venezuela’s oil reserves.

“Peace. Yes. War. No. Never, never war,” he said last month when asked about U.S. military activity near Venezuela’s borders.

Norway Meeting and Covert Travel

On the morning of Dec. 12, Machado met Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Store, who said Norway was prepared to assist a democratic Venezuela in “building new and sound institutions.”

Machado said she believed the Venezuelan government did not know where she had been staying since early 2024.

“Certainly they would have done everything to stop me from coming here,” she told reporters.

The 58-year-old declined to disclose how she reached Norway. She thanked “all those men and women that risked their lives” so that she could be there, adding that she will share details only when it is safe.

“It was quite an experience,” she said, “but I think it’s worthwhile being here with you, telling the world what’s happening in Venezuela.”

In November, the U.S. State Department designated Venezuela’s Cartel de los Soles a foreign terrorist organization, accusing Maduro and senior officials of running it. Washington has similarly labeled gangs in El Salvador, Haiti, Mexico, and elsewhere as terrorist entities.

Machado insisted that her movement’s efforts would continue despite the risks.

“We decided to fight until the end, and Venezuela will be free,” she said in Oslo.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.