CARACAS, October 30 (Aalimi Nation) – Venezuelan opposition leader and Nobel Peace Prize laureate Maria Corina Machado thanked US President Donald Trump for the January operation that removed Nicolas Maduro and called for presidential elections in 2027, in her first news conference since returning home after about ten months in exile.
Speaking in Caracas on Thursday, Machado named Trump, his administration and Secretary of State Marco Rubio. "Thanks to their vision, their courage, and their action on January 3, the floodgate to freedom has been opened," she said.
Elections in 2027
Machado said Rubio had set out a sequence of steps towards a democratic transition that, in her words, makes clear "the holding of presidential elections in 2027". She said the date of the vote would be "the date of liberation" and that she had come back to "mobilise society".
Her party wants the 2027 election and wants her to be allowed to stand. She was barred from running in the last presidential vote. She returned to Venezuela on Sunday, October 25, and was welcomed by supporters in a motorcade, according to reports.
Machado said she had received no message from the interim government or from Washington about a possible meeting.
Interim government's response
Since Maduro's removal, Venezuela has been led by his former vice president, Delcy Rodriguez, who heads an interim government that has US backing. Before Machado spoke, Rodriguez said elections would be held "with the world as witness", but she gave no date.
Criticising the reception given to Machado, Rodriguez said on state television: "The show could have been avoided – the airports are right here."
It has been reported that Washington supports talks between the Rodriguez government and opposition groups that do not include Machado's Vente Venezuela movement, and that Trump has previously questioned how much support she has inside the country. The US administration has not given a timetable for elections.
Oil agreement
Machado was more reserved about an agreement between Washington and Caracas under which Venezuela will hand over 20 percent of its oil reserves to the United States. "This agreement does not reflect the levels of transparency that Venezuelan society wants," she said.
Background
Machado spent a year in hiding from Maduro's government before leaving Venezuela by boat with help from a private rescue group. She travelled to Oslo in December to receive the Nobel Peace Prize and has said she presented her medal to Trump. The interim government has so far offered no election calendar.
What happens next
The key question is whether the interim government and the opposition agree on a date and conditions for a vote, including whether Machado can be a candidate. Rodriguez has promised elections but has not named a date, and Machado has said she will work to ensure all eligible Venezuelans can cast ballots. Machado said Rubio's outlined sequence of steps is the basis for her expectation of a 2027 vote; Washington has not publicly set a date.
