Machado’s Nobel Peace Prize offer to Trump signals broader support for regime change
Ziggy Ojiegbe
Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado said on Monday she wants to share her Nobel Peace Prize with U.S. President Donald Trump in recognition of Washington’s recent military operation that led to the capture of former President Nicolás Maduro.
Machado made the remarks in an interview with Fox News, praising the U.S. intervention as a “huge step for humanity, for freedom and human dignity.”
Machado has framed the operation not only as a defeat of Maduro’s hold on power but as a milestone in Venezuela’s long struggle against authoritarian rule.
Her willingness to publicly support and celebrate a U.S. military campaign — unusual for a Nobel Peace Prize laureate — reflects strong sentiment among many Venezuelans and opposition supporters for decisive action to remove a leader they view as illegitimate and deeply repressive.
Within the broader opposition, there has been notable enthusiasm for the outcome of the intervention and hope it will open the door to democratic reform.
Machado, 58, was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2025 for her role in mounting what the Norwegian Nobel Committee described as the most serious peaceful challenge to Maduro’s government in years. She has previously dedicated the award in part to Trump, who had publicly campaigned for the prize himself.
In her Fox News interview, Machado said she had not spoken with Trump since the prize was announced on 10 October, but expressed a desire to personally thank him on behalf of the Venezuelan people by sharing the award with him.
The U.S. military operation in Venezuela has dramatically shifted the country’s political landscape. Trump’s forces captured Maduro and brought him to the United States to face narcotics-related charges, a move that surprised global leaders and sharply divided international opinion. While some Venezuelans welcomed the action as the end of an era, the assault also triggered a wave of repression and security clampdowns in Caracas, with pro-Maduro militias and interim authorities working to reassert control.
Trump has publicly dismissed Machado’s capacity to lead Venezuela despite her vocal support for the intervention, saying she lacks the domestic backing and respect required to govern. Machado, for her part, has reiterated plans to return to Venezuela “as soon as possible” and push for free elections, positioning her stance as aligned with the will of citizens who see forceful removal of Maduro as the only viable path to democratic renewal.
