Machado says Venezuelan military members reaching out to opposition: ‘They are scared’
venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado, this year’s Nobel Peace Prize laureate, stated that President nicolás Maduro’s government is “weaker than ever.” Speaking from Oslo, Norway, where she received the prize after escaping Venezuela, Machado highlighted growing divisions within Venezuela’s armed forces and police, with some military members secretly reaching out to the opposition due to fear of persecution. She praised the Trump governance’s efforts to pressure Maduro’s regime, including sanctions against Maduro’s family, the seizure of an oil tanker linked to illicit oil shipments, and actions against suspected drug trafficking. Machado emphasized that the current moment represents the best chance for Venezuela to move toward democracy. U.S. Senator Mark Warner also commended Machado as a hero deserving of the Nobel Prize.
Machado says Venezuelan military members reaching out to opposition: ‘They are scared’
Venezuela‘s opposition leader María Corina Machado said she believes Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro‘s government is “weaker than ever,” touting the Trump administration‘s strategy with the South American country.
Machado, this year’s Nobel Peace Prize recipient, escaped from her home country to Oslo, Norway, where the prize ceremony was held on Wednesday. Her award comes as President Donald Trump has been increasing pressure on Maduro’s regime by striking down suspected drug-trafficking boats in the Caribbean throughout the fall, seizing an oil tanker off the Venezuelan coast, and placing sanctions on his extended family.
RAND PAUL WARNS MID-DECADE REDISTRICTING COULD FOMENT ‘MORE VIOLENCE’ IN US
“Maduro is weaker than ever. The armed forces, police are certainly divided and fractured, and our country is united, cohesive, and we finally have the administration, in this case, President Trump, with a clear strategy that truly represents a credible threat for the regime,” Machado said. “If we had ever had a chance to finally move ahead into towards democracy in our country, it’s today.”
Machado made the comments during an appearance on CBS’s Face the Nation on Sunday morning. She said members of the military are fearful of persecution.
“We’ve seen more and more members of the military finding ways to connect with us, to send messages to show that they are feeling the same of what the rest of the country is feeling,” Machado said.
BOLIVIAN FOREIGN MINISTER SAYS ‘ARMS ARE OPEN’ TO US AND APPROVES OF TRUMP STRATEGY IN SOUTH AMERICA
Sen. Mark Warner (D-VA), who also appeared on the Sunday morning program, called Machado a “hero” who “deserves to win the Nobel Prize.”
Following the United States’s Wednesday seizure of an oil tanker that Attorney General Pam Bondi said was shipping oil from Venezuela and Iran as part of “an illicit oil shipping network,” the U.S. followed up with sanctions aimed at Venezuela. The Treasury Department announced sanctions against six companies shipping Venezuelan oil and several of Maduro’s family members.
" Conservative News Daily does not always share or support the views and opinions expressed here; they are just those of the writer."