Venezuelan opposition leader and 2025 Nobel Peace Prize laureate Maria Corina Machado published a historic statement this Saturday declaring that "the time has come." “TIME FOR FREEDOM” for Venezuela, hours after the United States announced the capture of Nicolas Maduro in a coordinated military operation. The message, disseminated through his official social media accounts, recognizes Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia as the legitimate president and calls on Venezuelans inside and outside the country to mobilize to bring about a democratic transition.

“What had to happen is happening”

In a letter dated January 3, 2026, Machado directly connects Maduro's capture to years of opposition struggle and international pressure. “Nicolas Maduro now faces international justice for the atrocious crimes committed against Venezuelans and against citizens of many other nations,” states the leader, who attributes the outcome to the regime's refusal to “accept a negotiated solution.” The statement presents the US operation as the fulfillment of a promise: “Given its refusal to accept a negotiated solution, the United States government has fulfilled its promise to enforce the law.” "We have fought for years, we have given everything, and it has been worth it. What had to happen is happening," Machado writes in a paragraph that reinterprets the toll of the Venezuelan crisis as a political investment that is finally bearing fruit. The opposition calls for the recognition of Edmundo Gonzalez. The political core of the message is the explicit recognition of Gonzalez Urrutia as the acting authority. "This is the moment for the citizens. Those of us who risked everything for democracy on July 28. Those of us who elected Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia as the legitimate President of Venezuela, who must immediately assume his constitutional mandate and be recognized as Commander-in-Chief of the National Armed Forces by all the officers and soldiers who comprise it," Machado proclaims.

The reference to July 28 alludes to the 2024 presidential elections, in which the opposition denounced massive fraud after the National Electoral Council,controlled by Chavismo, declared Maduro the winner with 51.20% of the vote. Machado claimed at the time to have 73% of the tally sheets certifying Gonzalez's victory with 70% popular support. Gonzalez has been in exile in Madrid since September 2024 and is constitutionally due to assume office on January 10, 2026.

Maria Corina calls on Venezuelans to organize

The statement structures its call to action around two main points:

For Venezuelans within the country: “To Venezuelans who are inside our country, be ready to implement what we will soon communicate to you through our official channels.” This formulation implicitly acknowledges that the opposition does not yet have a publicly articulated government plan, but suggests the existence of an operational mechanism in preparation.

For the Venezuelan diaspora: “We need Venezuelans abroad mobilized, activating the governments and citizens of the world and committing them now to the great operation of building the new Venezuela.” The message assigns the more than seven million Venezuelans in exile a diplomatic role and one of international pressure, rather than direct participation in immediate governance.

A Nobel Peace Prize laureate who challenged the regime from underground

Maria Corina Machado, 58, received the 2025 Nobel Peace Prize on October 10 “for her tireless work promoting the democratic rights of the Venezuelan people and for her struggle to achieve a just and peaceful transition from dictatorship to democracy,” according to the Norwegian Nobel Committee. The committee chairman, Jørgen Watne Frydnes, acknowledged that they assessed the security implications of awarding the prize to a leader “in hiding due to serious threats against his life.” An engineer by profession, Machado founded the Vente Venezuela party in 2013 after being politically barred from holding office by the Chavista regime. Since then, she has established herself as the most radical figure in the Venezuelan opposition, rejecting any negotiations with Maduro and advocating hardline positions. She was the first to call the government a “dictatorship” and promoted the anti-government protests of 2014, 2017, and 2019.

After winning the 2023 opposition primaries with a record number of votes, the regime prevented her from running for president, alleging financial irregularities, which led her to support Gonzalez Urrutia as the unity candidate.

Context of the military operation