Maria Conina Machado’s Situation with Venezuela

Maria Corina Machado is a Venezuelan leader who opposed the government and won a Nobel Peace Prize in December 2025. After last year‘s presidential election, the new government was against what she supported and saw her as a political threat. Machado quickly had to go into hiding.

With the help of the United States government, she was able to escape Venezuela where she was hiding, and go to Norway, where she arrived with a small group of supporters.

Going against the president of Venezuela, she stated that he was a “criminal mastermind”, as he was engaged in several illegal activities including alleged drug trafficking and bribery with American industries. In spite of this, she has dodged several questions asking about her thoughts on Trump’s threats to start military action.

Machado states, “Venezuela has already been invaded,” she said at a news conference with Norwegian Prime Minister, Jonas Gahr Store, earlier on Thursday. “We have the Russian agents, we have the Iranian agents, we have terrorist groups such as Hezbollah, Hamas, operating freely in accordance with the regime. We have the Colombian guerrilla, the drug cartels.”

Analysts believe Ms. Machado’s decision to leave Venezuela has made her an important figure again in the growing conflict between Mr. Trump and Mr. Maduro. However, she has limited time to turn her international attention into real political change before she loses support inside Venezuela.

For now, Ms. Machado has not discussed her next moves in the political field. What she will do next is unclear, but may have a big impact on Venezuelan opposition.