Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Colina Machado said Friday she is focused on her country’s orderly transition of power if President Nicolas Maduro leaves power and is confident Venezuela’s police and military will not oppose such a transition.
As the U.S. government ramps up pressure on Venezuela’s authoritarian leader, Machado said the crisis in his home country is an important national security consideration for the United States.
“It has become very clear that the Venezuelan conflict is an absolute priority in the national security agenda of the United States and in the security agenda of the hemisphere,” Machado told reporters in Oslo, Norway, where he received the Nobel Peace Prize this week.
The U.S. administration is working on plans for the next day in case Maduro is ousted, senior administration officials said. CNN previously reported that there were private conversations within the US administration regarding Machado and fellow opposition leader Edmundo González, who will lead post-Maduro Venezuela.
“Regardless of whether there is a deal or not, Maduro will leave the government,” Machado said on Friday. “Our fundamental focus is on how to ensure an orderly and peaceful transition in which the fruits of national reconstruction are felt by the Venezuelan people as soon as possible.”
“I am confident today that the majority of Venezuela’s military and police will follow orders, guidelines and instructions from their superiors, who will be appointed by the civil authorities duly elected by the Venezuelan people, as soon as the transition begins,” she added.
Asked what role he would play in the U.S. government’s plan, Machado told CNN: “I think the U.S. government, as well as many other governments around the world, are preparing for a democratic transition in Venezuela for several reasons. One is because we recognize that the biggest migrant crisis in the world today is certainly displaced Venezuelans.”
“So this is going to affect many countries, including the United States. I’m talking about hundreds of thousands of people returning home,” Machado said.
“And I intend to stand where the Venezuelan people have already obliged. We won the elections in a landslide, and the president-elect has asked me to join his government as vice president. So I intend to join him in this new and challenging era that is about to begin. Or, you could say it has already begun,” she added.
The Nobel laureate has been in hiding in Venezuela for more than a year after the country’s disputed 2024 presidential election, after which government-run election authorities declared Maduro the winner. She made a daring escape to accept the Peace Prize in Oslo this week, arriving to cheering supporters hours after the ceremony ended.
Machado acknowledged that “assistance” from the U.S. government helped her travel to Norway. On Friday, he also criticized the lack of support from Spain, with which the country has historical ties.
“As for the Spanish government, I just want to say that history will judge what was missing, just as it is with the Venezuelan people today. It was definitely missing,” Machado stressed. “But there were also other European countries and governments that took the initiative to protect the Venezuelan people.”
