Nobel Peace Prize winner María Corina Machado on life in hiding, the fight for democracy, and why US military strikes may be “the only way.”

https://www.bloomberg.com/features/2025-maria-corina-machado-weekend-interview/

Posted by bloomberg

3 comments

  1. *Editor-at-Large Mishal Husain for Bloomberg News*

    The awarding of the Nobel Peace Prize to María Corina Machado of Venezuela comes at an extraordinary moment in her country’s relations with the United States.

    In recent weeks, the Trump administration has launched strikes against small vessels off the Venezuelan coast, ostensibly targeting the drug trade, and the president warned that “the land is going to be next.” As a US military buildup in the Caribbean continues, Trump has also authorized CIA action in Venezuela, which some see as a pretext for regime change.

    Against that backdrop came the announcement from Oslo honoring Machado, a longtime critic of President Nicolás Maduro who would have run against him last year had she not been barred. Her stand-in won the vote, according to an opposition-run parallel count widely deemed credible. Nevertheless, Maduro declared victory.

    Fifteen months on, Machado spoke to us from an undisclosed location in Venezuela. Her activism has come at a steep price — separation from family members now in exile — but Washington’s increasingly hawkish tone is giving her new hope.

    [Read the full interview here.](https://www.bloomberg.com/features/2025-maria-corina-machado-weekend-interview/?accessToken=eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJzb3VyY2UiOiJTdWJzY3JpYmVyR2lmdGVkQXJ0aWNsZSIsImlhdCI6MTc2MTkwNTAxMywiZXhwIjoxNzYyNTA5ODEzLCJhcnRpY2xlSWQiOiJUNFpHMk9HUTdMNjUwMCIsImJjb25uZWN0SWQiOiJEMzU0MUJFQjhBQUY0QkUwQkFBOUQzNkI3QjlCRjI4OCJ9.MOkpnp4r4h4Z9TpfBE_CyJ8zHUnI6Ncpk4xoTVazQ90) You can also [listen to this interview](https://omny.fm/shows/the-mishal-husain-show/mar-a-corina-machado-believes-us-pressure-on-maduro-is-the-only-way) and follow The Mishal Husain Show on [iHeart Podcasts](https://www.iheart.com/podcast/1119-the-mishal-husain-show-300204707/), [Apple Podcasts](https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-mishal-husain-show/id1845840408), [Spotify](https://open.spotify.com/show/4cJNIDbIEyNyaS7EWVh5Hh) or wherever you get your podcasts.

  2. I mean yeah if the US decides Maduro has to go it’s going to happen, and probably with minimal if any US loss of life. Venezuela’s air defenses are pitiful and their air force is literally made up of trainers and transport helicopters. Their navy is a few dozen patrol boats that would just hide in port. Russia and China both the logistics, willingness, or assets to lend any support. There would almost certainly be no US boots on the ground. Naval invasions are virtually impossible to do without catastrophic loss of life and the US population wouldn’t support that.

    The question is what would the end goal be. Polls suggest Maduro is very unpopular with [most](https://www.miamiherald.com/news/nation-world/world/americas/venezuela/article312255968.html) Venezuelans expecting him to be kicked out within the next few months. Most people think he is not the rightful president. Venezuela also had great relations with the US until recently. So tbh the US forcing him out might not be the “America world police” bad outcome that people assume. If the people of Venezuela want Maduro gone and Democracy restored this wouldn’t be the US forcing Democracy on a middle eastern nation that think women aren’t equals, it would be a liberation action to bring free elections back to a people who want it.

  3. Present an unconditional surrender ultimatum to Maduro, along with the carrot of a bag of cash and safe passage to Russia if he accepts. If he rejects it, get rid of him. Present the same ultimatum to his replacement. If his replacement rejects it, do the same thing.

    Keep iterating at a rapid cadence. Trust that the law of large numbers will deliver a replacement who will agree to the unconditional surrender.

    This is not 2003 Iraq where you spend 3 years and a ground invasion to search for one guy. The intelligence capabilities of the modern era opens up new political outcomes that can realistically be achieved through the application of force.

Comments are closed.