María Corina Machado: 'President Trump is a champion in the fight for Venezuelan freedom'

María Corina Machado, Venezuelan opposition leader and Nobel Peace Prize 2025 laureate, wrote an opinion piece in the New York Post in which she stressed that, in her opinion, President Donald Trump "is a champion in the fight for Venezuelan freedom."

In the opinion column, Machado explained that her country is taken over by what she described as a criminal cartel and argued that its reach extends to the United States. In that sense, Machado highlighted that anyone who believes that this is another authoritarian regime "is dangerously mistaken."

"This is organized crime in power, armed and bankrolled by America’s enemies. Across the hemisphere, narco-terrorist groups and the dictators who shield them are clawing for more control. They don’t just threaten their own nations," Machado stressed in the article published in the New York newspaper.

Machado recalled that Venezuela was one of the most prosperous countries in the world with "a proud and stable democracy that welcomed millions of people fleeing war and misery":

"We were also a proud, stable democracy that welcomed millions fleeing war and misery. All of that was shattered when the Cartel de los Soles hijacked the state nearly 27 years ago. Its bosses — Nicolás Maduro and his inner circle — stand accused of crimes against humanity and other grave atrocities. They govern the country the way mobsters control territory: through fear, torture and the systematic destruction of the nation’s democratic pillars," Machado explained.

"They sold our sovereignty to foreign partners: Castro’s Cuba, Colombian guerrillas, Iran, Russia — and took billions in financing from China," added the opposition leader.

"They have also ceded Venezuelan territory to terrorist organizations and Iran’s operatives"

The opposition leader, who led to the victory -unbeknownst to the regime - of Edmundo González Urrutia in the past presidential elections, assured that since Maduro's regime cannot face the United States militarily, it attacks it asymmetrically:

"Since they cannot confront America militarily, they attack it asymmetrically: smuggling narcotics into US neighborhoods, spreading disinformation to divide Americans, paying lobbyists to warp US policy, backing hostile regimes and unleashing criminal groups like Tren de Aragua across the region," Machado said.

"They have also ceded Venezuelan territory to terrorist organizations and Iran’s operatives, giving US adversaries a safe ­haven just hours from American shores. This network is already destabilizing cities and democracies throughout Latin America, and its reach is expanding north. President Donald Trump understands this threat for what it is," Machado wrote.

"We must finish what we began, together"

Finally, Machado highlighted President Trump's policy on Venezuela. She highlighted the U.S. deployment in the Caribbean. In addition, she noted that Venezuelans await the arrival of freedom to turn their country into the "energy powerhouse of the Americas, a strategic ally in dismantling narco-terrorist networks, and an extraordinary frontier for US investment in energy, infrastructure, technology and agriculture."

"And the moment freedom arrives, hundreds of thousands of Venezuelans will begin returning home, relieving pressure across the region and restoring dignity to our families," Machado said in the op-ed.

"A free Venezuela strengthens America, protects the hemisphere and makes all of us safer, stronger and more prosperous. Venezuelans have already done the impossible. Now we must finish what we began — ­together," concluded the opposition leader.