Venezuela’s opposition leader and Nobel Peace Awardee Maria Corina Machado has said that she will welcome more pressure on Maduro so that he understands he needs to go for the betterment of the country.
During an interview marking her first public address after more than a year in hiding and arriving in Norway, Machado said she wasn’t aware of any potential US military action against Caracas, yet stressed that the removal of Maduro must not be considered typical.
The US Donald Trump administration has been piling up pressure on Venezuela, threatening Maduro with military invasion in case he doesn’t step down.
On Thursday, Russian President Vladimir Putin reaffirmed support for Maduro’s government in a phone call, amid the ongoing tensions with the US.
Machado said, "I will insist on something that I've said several times before: this is not conventional regime change.” She indirectly hinted at being open to the military action against the Maduro government, which has massive military and militia support in the country. The war would turn bloody if the US military intervened in the country.
The US tried the same adventure with Cuba during the Cold War, but failed miserably after the local population fought the invaders even before the military forces swung into action.
Machado was barred from contesting because the Venezuelan government describes her stance as anti-national; she remains one of the most polarising and hated figures in her own country.
She fled the country by boat to nearby Curacao Island before taking her flight to Oslo on Thursday.
When asked about how she managed to escape the country, she replied, "I am not going to give more information regarding my trip to Norway. But what am I going to say about how important it is for the Venezuelan people? I came to receive that prize, that award, and I'm going to bring it back home to the Venezuelan people as soon as possible.”
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