The Venezuelan opposition leader and recent winner of the Nobel Peace Prize 2025, María Corina Machado, stated this Sunday that the regime of Nicolás Maduro “declared war on the Venezuelans” and affirmed that the transition to democracy in Venezuela “is already underway” and will be “orderly and peaceful.”
In an interview granted to journalist Maria Bartiromo on Fox News, Machado denounced that the Chavista regime maintains its power structure through drug trafficking, smuggling of gold, arms, and people, and supported the United States' offensive in the Caribbean to destroy boats linked to narco-terrorism.
"The only way to dismantle a criminal structure is to cut off its sources of criminal money. We must sever the resources that come from drug trafficking, smuggling, and human trafficking that Maduro operates from Venezuela," stated the opposition leader.
Machado stated that the Venezuelan dictator has implemented state terrorism within the country and narco-terrorism against nations in the western hemisphere. "Maduro is the one who started the war. President Trump is stopping it, he is ending the war," he asserted.
During the interview, the former congresswoman warned that Maduro seeks to create a "false narrative" about a supposed violent transition, comparing Venezuela to Libya or Iraq.
"That is totally false. There is no other society as cohesive as the Venezuelan one, and 90% of the population wants to live in peace. But peace requires freedom, and freedom requires strength," he emphasized.
Machado's statements come amid the U.S. military deployment in the Caribbean, led by the aircraft carrier USS Gerald Ford and its strike group, on direct orders from President Donald Trump.
The Secretary of Defense, Pete Hegseth, confirmed that the goal is to "dismantle the transnational criminal organizations" that operate from Venezuela and its surrounding areas.
According to the Pentagon, U.S. forces have destroyed at least ten suspicious vessels related to drug trafficking since September, some of which are allegedly linked to the Tren de Aragua and networks operated by the Venezuelan regime.
In the most recent attack, six alleged narco-terrorists died after a boat sank near the Venezuelan coast.
Although Caracas and Bogotá described the actions as "extrajudicial executions," the White House has defended the operations as part of a coordinated effort to protect national and regional security.
Machado concluded his speech with an hopeful message: “We are moving from tyranny to democracy, from chaos to order, from misery to prosperity. The transition is underway, and it will be orderly and peaceful.”
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