Nobel Peace Prize winner Maria Corina Machado will likely be the next president of Venezuela following Nicolas Maduro’s capture by the United States.
Opposition leaders Corina Machado and Edmundo González could be next in line to succeed in the South American country, according to a Caracas expert.
President of the Economic Inclusion Group, Jorge Jraissati told Fox News Digital that ‘Machado and Gonzalez would assume a transitional government in Venezuela.
‘They have the support of 70 percent of Venezuelans. They would lead this transition period.’
Jraissati believes Machado has ‘the capacity and integrity’ to lead the country as it copes with the shock of its authoritarian former leader being removed from power.
‘[The] key will be her ability to surround herself with young and capable Venezuelans instead of career politicians,’ he told the outlet.
The US recognized González as Venezuela’s leader, after he won the election in a landslide by more than a two-to-one margin in the 2024 election.
Nobel Peace Prize winner Maria Corina Machado attends a press conference with the President of Norway’s Parliament Storting (unseen) on December 11, 2025 at the Storting in Oslo
People take part in a parade celebrating Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado receiving the Nobel Peace Prize
President of Venezuela Nicolas Maduro and his wife Cilia Flores hold hands and pose for photos after the swear-in ceremony at Palacio Federal Legislativo
After Maduro’s court banned Machado from running, González became the opposition candidate, but Maduro ignored the election outcome.
Though she has not commented on the president’s capture, just last month she backed Donald Trump’s tough stance on her country, claiming it has been turned into ‘the criminal hub of the Americas’ under Maduro’s rule.
Machado urged the world to keep pressure on the authoritarian regime.
At a press conference in Oslo, Machado was asked if she would support a US invasion of Venezuela.
She said: ‘Venezuela has already been invaded. We have the Russian agents, we have the Iranian agents, we have terrorist groups such as Hezbollah, Hamas, operating freely in accordance with the regime.
‘We have the Colombian guerilla, the drug cartels that have taken over 60 percent of our populations and not only involving drug trafficking, but in human trafficking, in networks of prostitution’ she added.
‘This has turned Venezuela into the criminal hub of the Americas. And what sustains the regime is a very powerful and strongly funded repression system.
‘Where do those funds come from? Well, from drug trafficking, from the black market of oil, from arms trafficking and from human trafficking.’
Without naming Trump directly, Machado said: ‘We ask the international community to cut those sources.’
Machado won the Nobel Peace Prize in October for her work as a prominent opponent of the authoritarian government of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro.
Currently, Venezuelan Executive Vice President Delcy Rodríguez is leading the government.
