Maduro opponent Machado vows to return to Venezuela, wants election

Venezuela's main opposition leader Maria Corina Machado has vowed to return home quickly, praising U.S. President Donald Trump for toppling her enemy Nicolas Maduro and declaring her movement ready to win a free election.

"I'm planning to go back to Venezuela as soon as possible," said Machado, 58, a lawyer and mother-of-three who escaped from Venezuela in disguise in October to receive the Nobel Peace Prize, which she dedicated to Trump.

"We believe that this transition should move forward," she told Fox News in an interview late on Monday. "We won an election (in 2024) by a landslide under fraudulent conditions. In free and fair elections, we will win over 90% of the votes."

Machado said she had not spoken to Trump since October 10, when the Nobel award was announced. He has said the United States needs to help address Venezuela's problems before any new elections, calling a 30-day timeline for a vote unrealistic.

"We have to fix the country first. You can’t have an election. There’s no way the people could even vote," Trump told NBC.



Reuters