Nobel Peace Prize laureate Maria Corina Machado is poised to become Venezuela’s next president following the United States’ apprehension of Nicolas Maduro.

According to a specialist based in Caracas, opposition figures Machado and Edmundo González are likely candidates to take over leadership in the South American nation.

Machado, who heads the center-right liberal Vente Venezuela opposition party, expressed her thoughts on social media platform X amidst the military intervention.

“Venezuelans, the moment of liberation has arrived,” Machado declared in a translated message.

She commended the US for upholding its commitment to justice, highlighting Maduro’s resistance to relinquish power after a widely recognized electoral defeat.

Machado advocated for Edmundo González, the opposition candidate acknowledged by the US as the legitimate president-elect, to assume leadership without delay.

‘Today we are prepared to enforce our mandate and take power,’ Machado said.

‘We are going to restore order, release the political prisoners, build an exceptional country, and bring our children back home.’

Nobel Peace Prize winner Maria Corina Machado attends a press conference with the President of Norway’s Parliament Storting (unseen) on December 11, 2025 at the Storting in Oslo

People take part in a parade celebrating Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado receiving the Nobel Peace Prize

President of Venezuela Nicolas Maduro and his wife Cilia Flores hold hands and pose for photos after the swear-in ceremony at Palacio Federal Legislativo

President of the Economic Inclusion Group, Jorge Jraissati told Fox News Digital that ‘Machado and Gonzalez would assume a transitional government in Venezuela. 

‘They have the support of 70 percent of Venezuelans. They would lead this transition period.’

Jraissati believes Machado has ‘the capacity and integrity’ to lead the country as it copes with the shock of its authoritarian former leader being removed from power. 

‘[The] key will be her ability to surround herself with young and capable Venezuelans instead of career politicians,’ he told the outlet.

The US recognized González as Venezuela’s leader, after he won the election in a landslide by more than a two-to-one margin in the 2024 election.

After Maduro’s court banned Machado from running, González became the opposition candidate, but Maduro ignored the election outcome.

Though she has not commented on the president’s capture, just last month she backed Donald Trump’s tough stance on her country, claiming it has been turned into ‘the criminal hub of the Americas’ under Maduro’s rule.

Machado urged the world to keep pressure on the authoritarian regime.

President Donald Trump said Saturday that US forces had captured Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro after launching a “large scale strike” on the South American country

Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado addresses supporters during a protest called by the opposition on the eve of the presidential inauguration in Caracas on January 9, 2025

Nobel Peace Prize laureate Maria Corina Machado walks with Deputy Leader of the Norwegian Nobel Committee Asle Toje outside the Grand Hotel after she was in audience at the Royal Palace in Oslo, Norway

Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado addresses supporters at a protest against President Nicolas Maduro in Caracas, Venezuela, Jan. 9, 2025

 At a press conference in Oslo, Machado was asked if she would support a US invasion of Venezuela.

She said: ‘Venezuela has already been invaded. We have the Russian agents, we have the Iranian agents, we have terrorist groups such as Hezbollah, Hamas, operating freely in accordance with the regime.

‘We have the Colombian guerilla, the drug cartels that have taken over 60 percent of our populations and not only involving drug trafficking, but in human trafficking, in networks of prostitution’ she added.

‘This has turned Venezuela into the criminal hub of the Americas. And what sustains the regime is a very powerful and strongly funded repression system.

‘Where do those funds come from? Well, from drug trafficking, from the black market of oil, from arms trafficking and from human trafficking.’

Without naming Trump directly, Machado said: ‘We ask the international community to cut those sources.’

Machado won the Nobel Peace Prize in October for her work as a prominent opponent of the authoritarian government of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro. 

Currently, Venezuelan Executive Vice President Delcy Rodríguez is leading the government. 

Supporters holding a banner of opposition leader and Nobel Peace Prize winner Maria Corina Machado amid celebrations following news of Venezuelan President Maduro’s capture

Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado addresses supporters during a protest called by the opposition on the eve of the presidential inauguration, in Caracas on January 9, 2025

Maduro has been labeled a leftist radical with close ties to the Cuban government,  and has been in power since April 2013.

His presidency has been plagued by various social and economic crises that have driven millions into poverty and forced over eight million Venezuelans to migrate.

Economic crashes caused inflation and led to shortages of medicine and food, leaving families starved, sick, and fighting over necessities.

Maduro also eliminated his potential government opponents by imprisoning them, leaving them to be tortured.

As Venezuelans protested in the streets against his rule, strict military forces caused over 100 deaths and thousands of injuries. 

The International Criminal Court opened an investigation because of this, and it was still ongoing in 2025.

As a result, the country has been left facing one of the largest displacement crises in the world, according to the United Nations. 

So while Maduro’s capture sent shockwaves around the world, jubilant Venezuelans spilled out onto the streets today to welcome the news with singing and dancing. 

Machado’s campaign has focused on a government transition to democracy, and she has been in hiding for nearly a year after she was briefly detained after joining supporters in a protest in Caracas, Venezuela’s capital.

Machado was presented with the Nobel Peace Prize in Norway for ‘keeping the flame of democracy burning amidst a growing darkness.’

Her daughter, Ana Corina Sosa, accepted the prize in her place back in December 2025. 

‘She wants to live in a free Venezuela, and she will never give up on that purpose,’ Sosa said.