Machado: ‘I will be president when the time comes’
The report centers on Venezuelan opposition leader and Nobel Peace Prize laureate Maria Corina Machado, who says that she will be president when the time comes, but that leadership should be decided by Venezuelans in a free election. In an appearance on CBS’s Face the Nation, she discussed venezuela’s electoral future after the capture of Nicolás Maduro and the disputed July 28, 2024 election, which Maduro won with about 51.2% amid questions about transparency. Machado had been barred from running in 2024 and supported opponent Edmundo González Urrutia on the ballot; after the vote she went into hiding while González sought political asylum in spain. She emphasized that any future leadership should emerge through elections and framed the struggle for Venezuela’s freedom as a spiritual and existential fight. The piece is from OAN, dated February 2, 2026, with a photo from the Heritage Foundation and staff credits, and includes prompts for readers to subscribe and join the discussion.
OAN Staff Sophia Flores and Noah Secades
6:42 PM – Monday, February 2, 2026
Maria Corina Machado says she will be president of Venezuela when the time comes.
While on CBS’s “Face the Nation” on Sunday, Machado discussed plans for Venezuela’s electoral future following the capture of Nicholas Maduro.
Venezuela’s most recent presidential election took place on July 28, 2024. Former opposition primary winner Machado was barred from running by Venezuela’s highest courts, and she subsequently threw her support behind opposition candidate Edmundo González Urrutia as her endorsed successor on the ballot.
The results of the election were immediately disputed after Nicolás Maduro was declared the winner with roughly 51.2 % of the vote, raising widespread international concerns over transparency and fairness. Machado went into hiding to avoid arrest while continuing to denounce the government’s actions, and González fled to Spain, where he was granted political asylum.
Machado says that, for now, her role in leading Venezuela should be determined by a free election decided by Venezuelan voters.
“I will be president when the time comes. But it doesn’t matter. That should be decided in elections by the Venezuelan people,” Machado stated.
“I wasn’t allowed to run in the last election as we mentioned before because Maduro was afraid to run against me and he thought Edmundo was not a threat because nobody knew who he was and in less than three months we managed to put the whole country supporting him because this is this is matter of freedom,” she continued. “I mean, this is an spiritual fight, an existential fight for Venezuela.”
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