Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado, who was recently won the 2025 Nobel Peace Prize, says she believes US President Donald Trump is playing a key role in confronting what she called a “war” against Venezuela carried out by President Nicolás Maduro.
Speaking to CNN from an undisclosed location inside Venezuela, where she has remained in hiding since last year, Machado claimed, “We need the help of the president of the United States to stop this war, because it is about human lives.”
During the interview, she avoided explicitly calling for American military involvement when asked directly, but insisted outside actors such as Russia, China, Iran, and Cuba must be pushed back, describing Venezuela as “a safe haven” for terrorist groups.
According to Machado, “In the case of Maduro and his criminal narco-terrorism structure, (it) is (supported) through drug trafficking, gold trafficking, arms trafficking, even human trafficking, and we need to cut those flows from coming in.”
Her remarks come amid a sharp rise in friction between Washington and Caracas that has followed a series of US strikes against vessels near Venezuela, CNN reported.
The Trump administration labelled those boats as “narco-trafficking” targets, though no public evidence has been offered to support that claim.
Caracas, meanwhile, accuses the United States of attempting to overthrow Maduro, who faces a $50 million US bounty and denies allegations of drug trafficking.
Trump stated this week he authorized CIA operations inside Venezuela to combat illegal narcotics activity. He also suggested potential future action “by land,” an indication the current campaign could expand.
Machado, who once attempted to challenge Maduro in last year’s presidential election before being barred from running, welcomed the American actions, saying they weaken Maduro’s hold on power, the report said.
She asserted, “applying (and) enforcing the law, cutting those flows that come from these criminal activities” is the only way to bring change to Venezuela.
Machado echoed terminology used by the Trump administration, calling Maduro the leader of a “criminal narco-terrorism structure” and describing Venezuela’s situation as a threat to US security.
She argued, “Venezuela is currently a real threat to the national security of the United States.”
She also dismissed suggestions that Venezuela’s involvement in cocaine trafficking is exaggerated.
According to CNN, when Amanpour cited Juan Gonzalez—who said more than 95% of cocaine entering the US comes from Colombia and Venezuela has “never needed to develop a native drug producing industry”—Machado countered by pointing to what she described as an FBI report from 2020 indicating that “24% of the global trade in cocaine goes through Venezuela.”
Her Nobel Peace Prize recognition by the Norwegian Nobel Committee praised her as “one of the most extraordinary examples of civilian courage in Latin America in recent times” and commended her efforts to secure a peaceful shift from “dictatorship to democracy.”
She dedicated the honour to Trump, explaining it was “absolutely fair, and that’s what the Venezuelan people feel.”
She added, “I absolutely think he deserves a Nobel Peace Prize because of (the) incredible events that are taking place currently in the world.”
The award announcement frustrated some Trump supporters who expected Trump himself to win the prize this year for what he claims were major achievements in “ending unsolvable wars,” including the conflict between Israel and Hamas, the report said.
Trump later said he spoke with Machado after hearing the news, calling her “very nice.” Machado publicly thanked him at the time for his “decisive support of our cause.”
Born in Caracas in 1967, Machado studied industrial engineering before entering activism and politics. She founded Súmate in 2002 to promote political rights and monitor elections.
CNN reported last year she backed opposition figure Edmundo González Urrutia after she was blocked from the ballot. Human Rights Watch later reported the government had “killed, tortured, detained, and forcefully disappeared people seeking democratic change.”
Asked by Amanpour if she believed Maduro would harm her now that she is a Nobel laureate, Machado replied, “Oh, yes, I do,” adding, “They would dare to do anything to stay in power, but at the end, as we speak, he’s more isolated than ever.”
With inputs from CNN
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