Post-Maduro Venezuela: After ‘no public respect’ snub, Trump to host Nobel winner Machado

US President Donald Trump on Thursday said he expected to meet with Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado, the Nobel Peace Prize winner who was in hiding during captured president Nicolas Maduro's rule. "I understand she is coming in next week sometime. I look forward to saying hello to her," Trump told broadcaster Sean Hannity in an interview on Fox News that aired Thursday night. Machado returned to global focus after Trump on Saturday declared that Venezuela’s long-time leader, Nicolas Maduro, has been “captured” after large-scale American strikes on the South American nation.Hours after the announcement, Machado hailed the capture of Maduro by US forces, declaring that Washington had “fulfilled its promise” and signalling what she described as the beginning of a democratic transition in the country.In a statement, Machado said Maduro would now face “international justice for the atrocious crimes committed against Venezuelans and against citizens of many other nations”, adding: “The HOUR OF FREEDOM has arrived!” She argued that Maduro’s refusal to accept a negotiated exit had left the United States with no alternative. “Given his refusal to accept a negotiated exit, the government of the United States has fulfilled its promise to uphold the law,” she said.She insisted the moment vindicated years of opposition struggle. “We have fought for years, we have given everything, and it has been worth it. What had to happen is happening,” Machado said, casting the capture of Maduro as “the hour of the citizens” who, she said, had “risked everything for democracy on 28 July”.Machado had previously voiced strong support for Trump’s aggressive approach toward the Maduro regime and has openly backed external pressure, including military intervention, to end what she describes as communist rule in the country.However, at a press conference hours after the attack, Trump said: “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 said in an appearance earlier this week on the same Fox News program that she wanted to meet with Trump and present him with the 2025 Nobel Peace Prize. The US president has openly said he believed he deserved to be honored with the award.“I certainly would love to be able to personally tell him that we believe — the Venezuelan people, because this is a prize of the Venezuelan people, want to give it to him and share it with him,” Machado said, according to Bloomberg.Who is Machado?Machado emerged as the global face of Venezuela’s opposition after winning the Nobel Peace Prize in 2025, an honour that Trump himself was also reportedly seeking. Her rise has coincided with Washington’s escalating actions against Caracas, including a US military buildup in the Caribbean, strikes on alleged drug-smuggling boats and a blockade on tankers carrying Venezuelan oil.Earlier, Machado travelled to Oslo in Norway, where she received her Nobel Peace Prize. The trip marked her first public appearance after spending more than a year in hiding in Venezuela under constant threat from state authorities.Her departure from the country was itself dramatic. Media reports in the United States said Machado’s escape involved wearing a disguise, including a wig, and travelling from a small Venezuelan fishing village by wooden boat to the Caribbean island of Curacao, before boarding a private plane to Norway. The operation was later described in detail by Bryan Stern, a US special forces veteran and founder of the Grey Bull Rescue Foundation, who told the BBC that he led the extraction mission. Stern said the journey, dubbed Operation Golden Dynamite, involved disguises, two boats navigating choppy seas and a flight out of the region.“The seas are very rough. It's pitch black. We're using flashlights to communicate. This is very scary; lots of things can go wrong,” Stern said, adding that the “formidable” Machado did not complain once during the operation.The rare defianceMachado had travelled to Norway in defiance of a decade-long travel ban imposed by Venezuelan authorities. She arrived too late to attend the official Nobel Peace Prize ceremony, with the award being received on her behalf by her daughter.In earlier interviews, Machado has made no secret of her admiration for Trump’s posture toward Caracas. In December, she told CBS News that she was “absolutely” supportive of his strategy.“We, the Venezuelan people, are very grateful to him and to his administration, because I believe he is a champion of freedom in this hemisphere,” Machado said about Trump.Machado has long argued that sustained external pressure was the only way to end Maduro’s rule, and Trump’s actions appear to align closely with her long-held stance.Where is Maria Corina Machado?Last year, Machado, when she was in Norway, had planned to return to Venezuela regardless of whether Maduro was ultimately removed from power. Her comments came hours after she appeared in public for the first time in 11 months, following her arrival in the Norwegian capital.“I think that the actions of President Trump have been decisive to reach where we are now, where the regime is significantly weaker,” she told reporters. “Because before, the regime thought it had impunity …. Now they start to understand that this is serious, and that the world is watching.”“I would return to Venezuela when we believe the security conditions are right, and it won’t depend on whether or not the regime leaves,” she had said.