Oslo (AFP) – Venezuelan opposition leader and Nobel laureate Maria Corina Machado said Monday she was “aligned” with the United States on its goals for her country, following Washington’s armed ouster of Nicolas Maduro on January 3.
“What the US government did on January 3 was absolutely necessary to move ahead into a transition to democracy and to save lives …and bringing Nicolas Maduro to justice was absolutely necessary in order to be able to stop the destruction of a nation,” she told journalists, including AFP, in Oslo.
“There might be different views on how to move ahead and what each of us can add to the process, but you can be assured that our objectives are aligned,” she said. Venezuela is now governed by interim president Delcy Rodriguez – who was Maduro’s vice president – and the crude-rich country’s oil sales are effectively under US control.
Machado has repeatedly expressed confidence in US President Donald Trump’s plans for Venezuela, and has defended handing over her Nobel Peace Prize medal to the American leader, who has long coveted the honour. While Trump praised Machado after her symbolic gesture, he has not backed her or the Venezuelan opposition taking power, and expressed scepticism that she could lead the South American nation.
Machado, who is viewed as a fugitive by Rodriguez’s government, has said she intends to return to Venezuela, without specifying a date. She told the journalists in Oslo that, “if you ask some people in Venezuela, they would say it’s much better than four months ago” following the US military action against Maduro.
“Not from an economic perspective, but from a political perspective in terms of the right to speak out, of the people that have less and less fear every day that goes by,” she said.
“We’re not there yet, certainly not. But we are moving in the right direction. That’s why I believe it’s important for me and it’s my duty for me to return to Venezuela soon.”
© 2024 AFP
