Maria Corina Machado says she is preparing to return to Venezuela, even as the risks facing opposition figures inside the country remain severe. Speaking in an exclusive interview with New York Post, Machado framed her planned return not simply as a political move, but as a moment she believes could redefine the future of the Americas.
“I need to be there,” she said. “I want to go back as soon as possible.”
Machado, who spent more than a year living in isolation inside Venezuela before fleeing the country in December, cast herself as part of a historic turning point. She argued that once democracy is restored, President Donald Trump will ultimately be remembered for a transformation comparable to the fall of the Berlin Wall.
“The legacy to the world is going to be huge,” Machado said. “For the first time in history, you will have the Americas free of communism, dictatorship and narcoterrorism.”
Her confidence comes weeks after Trump ordered the arrest of Venezuelan strongman Nicolás Maduro, a move opposition figures described as unprecedented. Machado praised the decision as “historic,” saying it struck at a criminal structure she believes has ruled Venezuela for decades through fear, fraud, and foreign alliances.
“This is the threshold of freedom,” she said. “He understood this wasn’t just about Venezuela.”
Yet the path forward remains deeply uncertain. While Maduro is now in U.S. custody, power inside Venezuela has not dissolved. Machado warned that Vice President Delcy Rodríguez continues to wield control, enforcing what she described as a system sustained by terror rather than legitimacy.
“She designed the torture system,” Machado said. “Terror is the only thing sustaining the regime.”
Trump, for his part, has continued to engage with Rodríguez, praising her cooperation on issues such as oil exports. He has not publicly outlined a detailed plan for transitioning Venezuela to democratic rule, leaving open questions about how — or when — a new political order might emerge.
Machado insisted that without a full democratic transition, recent developments could prove fleeting. “If Delcy Rodríguez stays, nothing truly changes,” she said. “There will be no rule of law, no trust, no stability.”
She painted a bleak picture of a country once defined by wealth and promise. Despite holding the world’s largest proven oil reserves, she said, 86 percent of Venezuelans now live in poverty. Teachers earn roughly a dollar a day. Pensions are worth less than a dollar a month. Nearly nine million people have fled, scattering families across borders.
“Mothers beg to see their children again,” Machado said. “Grandparents don’t want to die without meeting their grandchildren.”
Still, she argued that signs of unrest — including student protests and highway blockades — suggest a population newly emboldened. According to Machado, such actions would have been “unthinkable” before Maduro’s arrest.
“It’s not safe for anyone who believes in freedom,” she said. “But freedom is not free.”
Machado believes Venezuela could rebound quickly under a legitimate government, restoring oil production, attracting U.S. investment, and reversing mass migration within three years. She says that outcome depends on trusting Venezuelans themselves to rebuild their nation.
During a recent White House visit, Machado said she delivered that message directly to Trump, even presenting him with her Nobel Peace Prize. “Trust the Venezuelan people,” she told him. “We share the same values.”
Whether Venezuela stands on the brink of renewal or another chapter of upheaval remains unresolved. But Machado is certain of one thing: she intends to be there, even if the future she envisions is still just out of reach.
