Maria Corina Machado: "Maduro will leave power with or without negotiations"

The leader of the Venezuelan opposition, Maria Corina Machado, Nobel Peace Prize laureate 2025, stated in an interview with AFP that President Nicolas Maduro "must leave power with or without negotiations," mentioning that she was offered guarantees for a peaceful transition. Machado, who is in hiding after the 2024 presidential elections, claimed that the deployment of American forces off the coast of Venezuela and the reward offered for capturing Maduro represent a "fatal blow" to the regime. She accused the government of repression and corruption, emphasizing that Venezuela is in a "final and decisive phase" of the struggle for freedom and democratic transition.