OSLO, Dec 12 (Reuters) – Nobel Peace Prize winner María Corina Machado said on Friday that Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro will leave power whether there is a negotiated change or not, adding that she is focused on achieving a peaceful transition.
The Venezuelan opposition leader arrived in Oslo in the early hours of Thursday, defying a decade-old travel ban imposed by authorities in her home country after spending more than a year in hiding.
“Maduro will leave power, whether negotiated or not negotiated,” Corina said, speaking in Spanish, at a press conference in the Norwegian capital. ‘I am focused on an orderly and peaceful transition.’
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Corina Machado was prevented from running in the presidential election last year, despite having won the opposition primaries by a large margin. She went into hiding that year after authorities expanded arrests of opposition figures following the disputed election.
The electoral authority and the top court declared President Maduro the winner, but international observers and the opposition say the opposition candidate won handily and the opposition published voter counts as proof of his victory.
When Corina Machado won the Nobel Peace Prize in October, she dedicated it in part to US President Donald Trump, who said he himself deserved the honor.
She has aligned herself with hawks close to Trump who argue that Maduro has ties to criminal gangs that pose a direct threat to U.S. national security, despite doubts raised by the U.S. intelligence community.
(Reportagem de Gwladys Fouche)
