POLITICS: The Woman Who Took on a Dictator—and Won a Nobel Peace Prize – USSA News

On Friday in Oslo, Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. Machado, who has been in hiding ever since last year’s fraudulent elections, is widely regarded as the force keeping the country’s opposition alive in the face of Nicolás Maduro’s increasingly authoritarian regime. Machado, the committee said, is a “brave and committed champion of peace,” who “keeps the flame of democracy burning amid a growing darkness.”

Machado’s story is a political thriller come to life. A 58-year-old industrial engineer and former member of parliament, she spent two decades as the most relentless opponent of Hugo Chávez and his successor, Nicolás Maduro.

Once derided by the regime as la dama de hierro (the Iron Lady), she was banned from running in the presidential election. She then named a proxy and led a grassroots campaign that united the country’s shattered opposition, drawing millions of Venezuelans to the polls in July 2024 and winning a landslide victory.

But Maduro’s regime seized power anyway, and began accelerating its crackdown on dissent. Fourteen months later, Machado is in an undisclosed location and fears for her life. She still addresses her followers through encrypted video messages and clandestine radio transmissions, seeking to oust the undemocratic regime that has transformed Venezuela into a hub of international crime.

And now, she’s been elevated to the global stage. Following the Nobel announcement, Machado wrote on X: “This recognition of the struggle of all Venezuelans is a boost to conclude our task: to conquer Freedom.” She continued: “[T]oday, more than ever, we count on President Trump, the people of the United States, the peoples of Latin America, and the democratic nations of the world as our principal allies to achieve Freedom and democracy.”

In recent months, Americans have watched their government edge closer to confrontation with Caracas. Under the banner of combating drug smuggling, the Trump administration has deployed at least eight ships carrying more than 4,000 personnel to the waters off Venezuela, and sent F-35 fighter jets to Puerto Rico. It has bombed boats accused of ferrying cocaine on behalf of the regime—a move that many say is unconstitutional. And it has doubled the reward for information leading to the arrest of Maduro to $50 million, calling him “one of the largest narco-traffickers in the world.”

U.S. military officials are now drawing up options to target drug traffickers inside Venezuela, with strikes within the country’s borders potentially beginning in a matter of weeks, according to four sources cited by NBC News. Is this just a counternarcotics operation, as the administration claims? For many Venezuelans, it is more than that; it’s a sign that the world’s most powerful democracy is finally treating Maduro’s regime as what they believe it to be—a criminal syndicate, not a sovereign government.

Last week, before she had become a Nobel laureate, I spoke with Machado via Zoom. It was a rare, wide-ranging conversation about the present and future of her country—and what she wants the Trump administration, and the American people, to do to support her opposition movement’s fight against Maduro. Below is a lightly edited transcript of our conversation.

Jonathan Jakubowicz: Americans today are allergic to foreign wars. After the debacles in Iraq and Afghanistan, the very mention of “intervention” sets off alarms across both the right and the left. Why should the U.S. government be involved in Venezuela?

María Corina Machado: Venezuela is not Iraq or Afghanistan. It’s three hours from the United States, with open access to the Caribbean, and it has been taken over by a narco-terrorist regime allied with the West’s worst adversaries—Russia, Iran, Hezbollah, Hamas, and powerful drug cartels. They’ve turned our territory, institutions, and resources into an operational base for global crime: cocaine routes, gold trafficking, weapons smuggling, and human exploitation. Their goal is to weaken Western democracies, including the United States, from within.

This is not a distant or ideological issue—it’s a matter of U.S. national security. Allowing a criminal state of this scale and proximity to consolidate power poses a direct and growing threat to the entire hemisphere.

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Now imagine the opposite: a free and democratic Venezuela. One that becomes a strategic ally in the fight against narco-terrorism, a reliable energy and trade partner, and a regional catalyst for stability—accelerating the collapse of totalitarian regimes in Cuba and Nicaragua while blocking China, Russia, and Iran from expanding their reach in the Americas.

So when the United States decides to act, it isn’t “intervening in Venezuela.” It’s defending the hemisphere—its people, its borders, and its values. A free Venezuela doesn’t just make the region safer; it strengthens the very foundations of the free world.

JJ: For anyone not familiar with the situation, this might sound like an exaggeration.

MCM: They only need to listen to the Drug Enforcement Administration, which has documented that nearly a quarter—24 percent—of the world’s cocaine passes through Venezuela. Or to the FBI, which has identified Tren de Aragua, a transnational terrorist group run directly by Nicolás Maduro, as a major threat to the American people. These criminal structures now operate across the Americas, from Canada to Argentina. They actively undermine U.S. security. No other adversary of the United States has that kind of direct, on-foot access to American territory.

JJ: But an isolationist might argue that it would be enough for America to secure its border. Why go overseas to fight for regime change?

MCM: The isolationist argument for solely securing the U.S. border is fundamentally flawed because the threat from Venezuela is not a traditional overseas problem; it’s a criminal and security threat that has already projected itself across the hemisphere and directly threatens U.S. stability.

The term “regime change” is misleading. Control over Venezuela was already mandated by the people through the 2024 elections. The issue is that a Maduro-allied criminal organization, known as the Cartel de los Soles, is actively refusing to yield power and has violently seized control of a nation that was historically one of the United States’ closest allies.

Decades before countries like Spain, South Korea, or Portugal shed military dictatorships, Venezuela already had a stable democracy. No one has to teach Venezuelans how democratic institutions work. The current cartel seized power only through the gradual dismantling of those institutions and brutal repression, not due to a lack of democratic culture.

Ignoring the problem allows this narco-terrorist hub—allied with Russia, Iran, and Hezbollah—to guarantee continuous, escalating border and security crises for the U.S. Fighting the criminal regime in Venezuela is the most effective form of forward defense, securing American interests, and stabilizing the hemisphere.

JJ: But isn’t there a risk that it can turn into another quagmire?

MCM: No, on the contrary! It will be a transition from current chaos to order and the rule of law. It will be an orderly transition for several compelling reasons.

First, I daresay there is no other society in the hemisphere with greater cohesion than the Venezuelan one. The vast majority of Venezuelans want the same thing: to be able to live with dignity, with opportunities, and with our children back home. This is only possible after the Maduro regime is gone.

Second, the rejection of Maduro within the Armed Forces and the police is immense. The Venezuelan Armed Forces were decisive in our electoral victory in July 2024. Every voting center was protected by them, and in all of them, the military collaborated so that our teams obtained original copies of the tally sheets that demonstrated our victory. Even in the precincts where the military themselves voted, we won by the same overwhelming margins as the rest of the nation. That tells you where their loyalties truly lie. They are with the Venezuelan people—but they live in constant fear, under surveillance, with many tortured or killed at the slightest suspicion of dissent.

The reality is that repression is enforced not by the rank and file, but by a minuscule high command and a few thousand loyal subordinates. The vast majority of the Armed Forces and police are waiting for the moment when they can stand with us. They will be the first to help us pacify the country once Maduro is gone. We have already identified every irregular group—cartels, guerrillas, and paramilitaries—and we have a plan for a peaceful transition back to constitutional democracy.

JJ: Would it be that easy?

MCM: Not easy. Complex. And challenging. But the reason eight million Venezuelans—nearly 30 percent of our population—have fled the country is not civil war or armed conflict. It is the direct result of catastrophic economic policies that left us poorer than Haiti, and the brutal repression of anyone who dares to hope for freedom and change.

But unlike the nations where the U.S. has intervened in the Middle East, Venezuela has a cohesive population—one that shares language, religion, race, and culture. A nation far closer to the United States than any other in South America. We play more baseball than soccer. You can buy a hot dog on every corner. Our people have never regarded the United States as an enemy. And you can see proof of this in the Venezuelans who are thriving in the United States—from the former president of MIT to Silicon Valley founders, Emmy and Grammy winners, Oscar nominees, Major League Baseball superstars, and Triple Crown–winning jockeys.

We are a nation overflowing with talent. And for the first time in our history, almost all of us are politically and socially aligned. We want democracy—one that guarantees the freedom to work, to create, to speak without fear. A nation where life is lived with dignity and guided by justice, solidarity, and the strength of family.

JJ: Why is everyone so politically aligned now?

MCM: Because the reality is unbearable. Eighty-six percent live in poverty. More than 70 percent in critical poverty. Retirees survive on $1 a month. Children attend school an average of two days a week—and grow up with the highest malnutrition rates in the hemisphere. It’s not hard to see this is unsustainable.

JJ: Are those numbers the reason for the mass migration?

MCM: Yes. And the lack of future and freedom. But democracy in Venezuela will reverse that migration. You will see millions of Venezuelans returning home. When I spent months campaigning across the country, I heard the same cry everywhere: We want our children to come back home.

One man stopped me once, his eyes filled with tears, and said: “You are the last hope I have of ever seeing my children again.” I hugged him and told him the truth: that he—and people like him—were my only hope of seeing my own children return. That moment became the heart of my entire campaign.

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We are a nation that loves family. Rich or poor, old and young—it doesn’t matter. We all want the same thing: for our children to come home, to stay home, and for those who have built lives abroad to be able to visit, to reunite, and to help rebuild our future.

Our families have been torn apart not by war, but by hunger and lack of opportunity. And it’s not just our tragedy. Every country in the Americas feels the weight of our exodus.

JJ: Families are important, but people need to eat. How would you entice them to come back?

MCM: Business opportunities. Venezuela has the potential to become the energy hub of the Americas. We hold the largest oil reserves in the world—greater than Saudi Arabia’s. We have the eighth-largest reserves of natural gas, and the fifth-largest of gold. Great coasts and infrastructure. These are not abstract figures; they are the foundation of a transformation.

Imagine a $1.7 trillion business opportunity in diverse sectors, igniting almost overnight, fueled by energy, minerals, and the talent of millions of Venezuelans returning home. That prosperity won’t just be ours—it will ripple across the Americas. It will mean cheaper, more secure energy for the United States. It will mean stability for the region. For investors and entrepreneurs, Venezuela will be the hub of a new era of growth, innovation, and opportunity.

JJ: It’s easy to imagine what Venezuela could become. What’s harder to imagine is the spark that makes it possible. What does America need to do to help enable that change?

MCM: We’ve asked the international community to cut off the cartel’s money supply. The dollars Maduro receives from drug trafficking, from black-market oil sales, from money laundering—that flow needs to stop. Only then will he understand that time is up, and his best option is to accept terms for a negotiated exit. Right now, Maduro still tells his inner circle that the United States is bluffing. The only way to change his perception is to increase pressure and send a clear message that he has to go.

There is an impressive international coalition focused on combating the Maduro regime—led by the United States, and joined by the UK, France, the Netherlands, and many Caribbean and Latin American nations. It sends the right message. But as long as Maduro believes the world is bluffing, he won’t accept it is time to go.

JJ: We’ve just seen President Trump lay out a plan for Gaza that includes a form of amnesty for terrorists who surrender their weapons and leave to places where they won’t be harmed. Would you offer something similar to members of Maduro’s Cartel de los Soles?

MCM: We have always said we are open to serious, verifiable negotiations and to offering guarantees to those who facilitate a peaceful transition. I can’t go into operational details now, but the answer is yes: We are prepared to discuss arrangements that help end the violence and restore the rule of law. What those who today hold power must understand is that their position is far weaker than it was a year ago—and it will continue to erode. Every day they delay makes any future negotiation more costly for them; waiting only narrows their options.

JJ: Would you say the only thing stopping this transition is their inability to recognize that their time is up?

MCM: I believe many of them already know their time is up. And that’s precisely why we’re seeing what we’re seeing inside the regime.

JJ: What are we seeing?

MCM: Desperation. Fear. Betrayal. Paranoia. They spy on each other, inform on each other, and quietly prepare escape plans to save their own skin—even if it means giving up their closest allies. That’s why I say there is no going back. Yes, there are still radicals willing to sacrifice themselves before letting Venezuela be free. But they are fewer every day, increasingly isolated. And the firmer and more united the international community remains, the faster this process will move to its inevitable conclusion.

JJ: What do you say to those who have given up hope—and who think what you’re describing is impossible?

MCM: We already did the impossible. We defeated them under their own rules—without money, with more than a million volunteers—and we proved to the world that we won the election in a landslide. In response, Maduro declared war on Venezuelans. But this country does not belong to him. It belongs to its people; courageous, hardworking, family loving and profoundly religious.

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And even though Venezuelans have known nothing but socialism, we strongly want to live in an open society that respects private initiative and property, where no one begs the state for crumbs, but lives proudly from their work. Imagine what will happen when that lock is finally broken. You will see an explosion of energy, of creativity, of entrepreneurship. You will see the rebirth of a nation.

But you will also see something more: the creation of the tech hub of the Americas, a country that will, at last, offer the conditions to build, with rule of law, respect for property, incentives for entrepreneurs, and an efficient, accountable government. And that national revival will not only transform us, it will inspire the world.

JJ: You mention socialism. Believe it or not, there is a generation of Americans today who are flirting with socialism. And when Venezuela is raised as a warning, they say: That wasn’t real socialism. Are they wrong?

MCM: Twenty-six years ago, Venezuelan youth fell in love with a socialist in Hugo Chávez. When people pointed to Cuba as a warning, they said, “Venezuela is not Cuba. And Cuba is not real socialism.” But here we are—worse than Cuba.

Socialism always follows the same pattern. It elevates the state above the citizen, strips away your autonomy, your conscience, your dignity, your ability to choose. And it does so with a seductive lie. It whispers of equality, but the only equality it delivers is at the bottom—where everyone is dragged down together. That has been the case in every nation, on every continent, in every culture where it has been tried. The result is always the same: a gigantic state that crushes the people beneath it, and once it takes hold, is terribly hard to remove.

Only free societies—where the individual comes first—can nurture both liberty and the responsibility that sustains it. Because freedom without responsibility decays, and responsibility without freedom is tyranny. But when merit becomes the path to rise, when effort and creativity are rewarded, then every citizen is called to succeed—the whole nation rises together.

That is what we want for Venezuela. And it is why I say to the American people: Do not be seduced. Socialism is the sexiest path to losing your freedom. Guard your freedom jealously. Defend it fiercely. Because freedom is not just an American promise—it is the hope of the world.

Jonathan Jakubowicz is a Venezuelan filmmaker and writer. His latest film, Soul of a Nation, is out in theaters in Los Angeles.