The Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado sent a message to the people of Cuba and Nicaragua in which she pledged to take on the cause of their liberation once Venezuela is free.
The statements were made in Oslo during a conversation with journalists.
In this context, Machado was emphatic in linking the political fates of the three countries under authoritarian regimes in the region.
"I'm going to say something about Cuba. The struggle for Venezuela's freedom is the struggle for Cuba's freedom and the struggle for Nicaragua's freedom. And all Cubans inside and outside of Cuba must know that once Venezuela is liberated, we will fight for its freedom as well," affirmed the leader.
"And it will come. Venezuela will be free, Cuba will be free, and Nicaragua will be free," he added.
The message, explicitly directed at Cubans both on the island and abroad, was made public at a time of high international visibility for Machado, who traveled to the Norwegian capital to receive the Nobel Peace Prize.
The opposition figure has turned her speech into a regional call against interconnected repressive systems, insisting that the political processes in Venezuela, Cuba, and Nicaragua cannot be analyzed in isolation, but rather as part of the same power dynamic in Latin America.
Her words carry greater weight due to the context in which they were spoken.
The Venezuelan leader recently managed to leave her country after spending 16 months in hiding, evading an arrest warrant issued by Nicolás Maduro's regime.
According to diplomatic sources revealed to the newspaper The Wall Street Journal, her departure was carried out through a secret operation supported by the United States.
According to that report, Machado allegedly left Venezuela by boat from the western coast to Curacao, from where she was transferred on a private jet to Oslo, with a technical stop in Bangor, Maine.
Despite the success of the operation, she could not arrive in time for the official Nobel Peace ceremony, which was ultimately attended by her daughter, Ana Corina Sosa Machado, on her behalf.
The Nobel Committee itself acknowledged that his move to Norway was "more complicated than expected" due to threats against his life.
In Oslo, Machado was received with applause, hugs, and supportive slogans from supporters chanting "Freedom for Venezuela!".
The opposition leader has utilized this international stage not only to denounce repression and the humanitarian crisis in Venezuela but also to extend her message to other countries in the region.
In his statements, he has reiterated that the Venezuelan struggle is not limited to an internal change, but has broader implications for peoples who, like the Cuban and Nicaraguan, live under authoritarian governments.
The President of the United States, Donald Trump, reacted to Machado's presence in Oslo and warned that he would not like the Maduro regime to attempt to arrest her upon her return. Trump described her recognition with the Nobel Peace Prize as an act of justice towards those who defend freedom.
Machado, for his part, reaffirmed his intention to return to Venezuela and continue his political struggle. "My fight does not end here. I will return soon, because Venezuela deserves freedom and justice," he stated.
In that context, her message to the Cubans resonated as a promise and a political declaration of regional significance: that the eventual liberation of Venezuela will not be an isolated event, but the beginning of a shared battle for freedom in countries that, according to her, share a common reality of repression and lack of rights.
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