This year’s Nobel Peace Prize winner, Maria Corina Machado, says that Donald Trump is acting correctly in the fight against drug trafficking in South America.
The leader of the Venezuelan opposition declared, faced with news of possible US ground attacks on Venezuela, that Nicolás Maduro “started this war” and Donald Trump “is ending it”.
“The President’s strategy [norte-americano, Donald] Trump against this criminal and narco-terrorist structure is absolutely correct, because Nicolás Maduro is not a legitimate head of state; is the head of this narco-terrorist structure that is waging war against the Venezuelan people”, maintained Maria Corina Machado, speaking virtually at the American Business Forum, taking place in Miami, Florida.
The 2025 Nobel Peace Prize laureate considered that “the impact” of Trump’s strategy was fundamental, whose Government is considering bombing military targets in Venezuelan territory, reported last week in North American newspapers such as The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times and The Miami Herald.
Machado supported Trump’s strategy, which ordered maritime operations that, since September 1, killed at least 66 people on almost 20 vessels in the Caribbean Sea and the Pacific Ocean, because it “combats the cash flows” of “criminal structures” that traffic weapons, drugs and people.
“It is necessary to cut these cash flows, and that is exactly what President Trump is doing, to protect millions of North American and Latin American lives; and if it is true that Maduro started this war, President Trump is ending it”, he argued.
“Maduro must understand that his days are numbered”
He also argued that Maduro rejected proposals for a negotiated transition of power, after the July 2024 elections, in which the opposition and foreign governments assure that Edmundo González, supported by Machado, won.
“This is the moment when Maduro has to understand that his days are numbered and, certainly, if he accepts a transition, it will go further, orderly, peacefully and faster, but it will happen regardless of what Maduro does”, he predicted.
If his movement comes to power, Machado promised to “open Venezuela” to foreign investment, with opportunities estimated at 1.7 billion dollars (1.4 billion euros), in addition to “large-scale privatization”.
The leading figure of the Venezuelan opposition also stated that, when Maduro’s government falls, Cuba and Nicaragua will follow the same path, along with changes in policy towards Iran, Russia and China, countries he accused of turning Venezuela “into a bridge” to help “criminal networks”.
“This is a unique moment that united our country and boosted our final steps towards freedom; this will also mean freedom for Cuba and Nicaragua”, he highlighted.
Maria Corina Machado, who once again recognized “President Trump’s leadership” when recalling the Nobel Peace Prize she was awarded last month, also presented Venezuela’s freedom as a national security issue for the United States.
The Venezuelan opponent is one of the speakers on the first day of the American Business Forum, which today and on Thursday brings together business and political leaders in Miami, such as Donald Trump, Argentine President Javier Milei, and big names in sports such as tennis player Rafael Nadal and footballer Lionel Messi.
With Lusa
