Donald Trump has said that Venezuelan opposition leader and Nobel peace prize winner Maria Corina Machado “doesn’t have the support” to lead her country following Nicholas Maduro’s ousting
During a a press conference from his Mar-a-Lago resort hours after the attack, the US president said: “I think it would be very tough for her to be the leader”.
“She doesn’t have the support within or the respect within the country.”
He added that Machado had not been consulted in advance about the military operation to remove Maduro.
InfoWars reports: President Trump instead insisted that Venezuelan Vice President Delcy Rodríguez would be Maduro’s successor. Trump said he would work with her and the US will “run” Venezuela until there is a peaceful transfer of power.
“I just had a conversation with her, and she’s essentially willing to do what she thinks is necessary to make Venezuela great again,” Trump said.
“Very simple.”
In a televised speech, Rodríguez dismissed Trump’s remarks, saying Maduro is the country’s “only president.“
In the aftermath of Maduro’s capture, Machado said the “hour of freedom has arrived.”
“Today we are ready to enforce our mandate and take power,” Machado said in a letter shared on X.
“Let us remain vigilant, active and organized until the Democratic Transition is realized. A transition that needs ALL of us.”
Machado, who currently resides in Europe, pledged her support to Edmundo González Urrutia, who lost to Maduro in the 2024 election, which is widely regarded to have been rigged in the dictator’s favour.
She said Urrutia must be “recognized as Commander in Chief of the National Armed Forces by all officers and soldiers.”