The US’ capture of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro has brought opposition leader Maria Corina Machado back into the global spotlight. President Donald Trump announced today that Venezuelan leader had been removed from Venezuelan territory, and was now aboard an American warship en route to New York to face prosecution for aiding “narco-terrorism”.
Machado, who was awarded the 2025 Nobel Peace Prize, is now seen as one of the primary figures poised to shape Venezuela’s future.
Reacting to Maduro’s capture, Machado on Saturday said that the “hour of freedom” had arrived for her country after President Nicolas Maduro was captured by the US forces. “Venezuelans, the HOUR OF FREEDOM has arrived!”
Machado said in a post on X that opposition candidate Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia, whom the opposition says won the vote, “must immediately assume his constitutional mandate” as president..
Who is Maria Machado and where is she?
Machado, who won the Nobel Peace Prize for her long-standing struggle to promote democratic rights and peaceful transition from authoritarian rule, has been in hiding for over a year due to threats from Maduro’s government. Her Nobel win was a significant acknowledgment of her efforts to unify disparate opposition forces and mobilise Venezuelans in the face of political repression, according to NobelPrize.org
In late 2025, after months of secrecy and fears of arrest, Machado left Venezuela and travelled to Oslo, Norway, to personally collect her Nobel medal. According to accounts of her departure, the journey involved clandestine movement through the country to a coastal point, and then by boat to reach international transit, a route fraught with danger but successfully executed, according to Al Jazeera.
Her current location is unknown. She was last seen in Oslo, where she received the Nobel Peace Prize, Al Jazeera had previously reported. Machado had said she intends to return to Venezuela.
She has been in hiding since she was barred from running in Venezuela’s July 24 presidential election, saying she feared her life was under threat from Maduro.
Can Machado take over as Venezuela’s new leader?
The chances of Machado taking over the reins in Venezuela may be unlikely.
“The collective behind Maduro won’t let her, because if she comes to power, the first thing she would do is hand over the top generals, cabinet ministers, oil company chiefs and everyone else to the United States. They all have lots of trumped-up cases against them. So the Venezuelan leadership cannot afford a transfer of power to the pro-American opposition, which would be suicidal. They would die fighting,” Latin American expert R. Viswanathan told The Week.