Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado has given her first formal news conference since fleeing her home country in December, and she used the occasion to reassure the United States of her unwavering support.
She also outlined a vision of Venezuela’s future where the South American country was closely aligned with US interests, following the abduction of former President Nicolas Maduro.
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“The result of a stable transition will be a proud Venezuela who is going to be the best ally the United States has ever had in the Americas,” Machado said at Friday’s event.
The news conference came one day after Machado travelled to the White House for a brief, closed-door lunch with US President Donald Trump. It took place on stage at the Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank known for publishing a policy blueprint for Trump’s second term, known as Project 2025.
Trump, like Machado, has long had a tense relationship with Maduro, the former bus driver who assumed Venezuela’s presidency in 2013 as the late Hugo Chavez’s hand-picked successor.
Machado ‘absolutely grateful’
Maduro was a champion of Chavez’s socialist political movement, chavismo, and he also faced widespread criticism for carrying out a campaign of human rights abuses, including the torture and imprisonment of political dissidents.
Since returning to office, Trump ratcheted up US pressure against Maduro’s government, including through a large-scale military buildup in the Caribbean Sea and the bombing of alleged drug-trafficking boats leaving Venezuela.
But on January 3, Trump’s campaign reached a zenith, as he launched a full-scale military attack on Caracas that resulted in Maduro’s abduction and transport to New York City to face trial.
Trump described the military offensive as a law enforcement operation, but critics have denounced it as a violation of international law, including the United Nations charter.
Machado was among the figures who had lobbied for such an intervention to take place, and she used Friday’s appearance to express gratitude for Trump’s actions.
“As Venezuelans, we are absolutely grateful to President Trump, his team, his administration and the people of the United States because it took a lot of courage to do what he did,” she said.
“And he did it, yes, on behalf of the American people, but also because he cares for the people of Venezuela, and he told me that yesterday.”
Trump has previously said that the US will “run” Venezuela and that, if the current government there did not obey his demands, a “second wave” of military action was possible.
A ‘complex phase’ in Venezuela’s history
So far, the Trump administration has avoided discussions of restoring Venezuela’s democracy, and it has declined to provide a timeline for new elections.
Instead, it has recognised the interim government of President Delcy Rodriguez, Maduro’s former deputy, citing the need for stability in Venezuela.
Trump’s support for Rodriguez has raised eyebrows, since Maduro’s last two elections were hotly contested. The most recent, in 2024, culminated with the government withholding the vote tallies typically released on election night — and Maduro claiming victory in his pursuit of a third term.
The opposition coalition, led by Machado, subsequently released documents that appeared to show its candidate, Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia, winning by a landslide.
On stage at the Heritage Foundation, Machado reiterated her belief that she has a mandate from the Venezuelan people to lead the government.
“We are facing challenging times ahead. We are prepared to do what it takes as a legitimate government,” she said.
“Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia and I have been in communication permanently all these days, and we feel the mandate from the Venezuelan people. That’s why I’m here, and that’s what I conveyed to the president of the United States.”
But she softened her rhetoric, appearing to accept Trump’s backing of the interim Rodriguez government.
She also called the democratic transition a “very complex, delicate process” and said the current government would handle the “dirty work” of having to “dismantle” itself.
“Delcy Rodriguez, yes, she’s a communist. She’s the main ally and representation of the Russian regime, the Chinese, and Iranians,” she said, citing some of Venezuela’s allies under Maduro.
“But that’s not the Venezuelan people, and that’s not the armed forces as well. So I am profoundly, profoundly confident that we will have an orderly transition. This is a complex phase we are [in] right now. Some of the dirty work is being done by them.”
Addressing migration and human rights
Machado, known for her unwavering opposition to the Maduro government, said that the Venezuela that will emerge in the aftermath of his removal will be a country built on “merit”, echoing one of Trump’s frequent talking points.
She also described a more affordable Venezuela where residents do not have to live on “handouts”.
“The result of this process will be a society based on these values, a society that is profoundly pro-American,” Machado told reporters at the Heritage Foundation.
She also addressed recent steps the Rodriguez government had taken to address concerns over Venezuela’s human rights and appease Trump.
One reporter on Friday asked Machado about Venezuela’s decision to resume accepting deportation flights from the US, where Trump has made the mass deportation of immigrants a central pillar of his second term.
A plane carrying approximately 199 Venezuelan deportees had arrived at La Guaira airport earlier in the day, marking the first such flight since Maduro’s removal. At moments of tension, Maduro was known to reject such deportation flights.
“We all know how this regime weaponised migration against several countries, not only the United States,” Machado told the reporter.
The United Nations estimates that nearly 7.9 million refugees have fled Venezuela in recent years, for reasons including oppression and economic instability.
Machado argued that restoring Venezuelan democracy would help pave the way for many Venezuelan migrants to return home, thereby helping to address Trump’s concerns about immigration.
“I think it is clearly in the best interest of the United States, and those that are concerned about migration, to have a transition take place as soon as possible. Because you will see millions coming back home,” Machado said.
“It’s not a matter of having all economic problems solved. People are willing to go back to be part of the solution,” she added.
The opposition leader was also dismissive of the Rodriguez government’s announcement that it had released nearly 400 political prisoners, though human rights groups speculate the number is much smaller.
“The fact that you are not in a prison doesn’t mean that you are free. In Venezuela, they have left the jails, but they cannot speak to the press. They cannot leave the country, and they are still terrified,” Machado said.
“All torture centres have to be closed. And certainly there have to be guarantees for journalists to speak out and those who have left the country to come back.”
She added that, if the Rodriguez government respected Venezuela’s constitution, there would no longer be political prisoners at all, and Gonzalez Urrutia would be president.
“We wouldn’t have a president-elect exiled in Madrid. He would have taken power on January 9, 2024 — sorry, 2025,” she said. “We realise that there’s no rule of law in Venezuela.”
‘Venezuela is going to be free’
Machado has faced criticism in the past for her embrace of far-right figures like Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and it remains unclear what role, if any, she will have in Venezuela’s future governance.
On January 3, the day of the US military operation, Trump appeared dismissive of her prospects, telling reporters, “I think it would be very tough for her to be the leader. She doesn’t have the support within or the respect within the country.”
But Machado remains popular among the Venezuelan opposition, both in the country and abroad, and her visit to Washington, DC, saw her thronged by supporters, who sought hugs and selfies.
On Thursday’s visit, she sought to ingratiate herself to Trump by offering him the Nobel Peace Prize she accepted in December, after fleeing Venezuela in secret for fear of arrest.
She emphasised on Friday her view that a better Venezuela could only be built with Trump’s backing.
