Venezuelan opposition leader wants transition without ‘revenge’

Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado. File | Photo credit: Reuters

Venezuela’s exiled opposition leader Maria Corina Machado said on Tuesday (June 2, 2026) that she wants to negotiate a democratic transition in the South American nation without “capitulation” or “revenge”.

Last year’s Nobel Peace Prize laureate, Ms Machado has championed Venezuela’s democratic transition, now led by Delcy Rodriguez, who has been acting president since Nicolás Maduro was captured in a US military raid in January.

“Those who now hold interim power also had to recognize that Venezuela cannot be stabilized, restored or governed indefinitely without the democratic majority that expressed itself on July 28,” Machado said in a speech at the Oslo Freedom Forum.

Venezuela held presidential elections on July 28, 2024, in which Ms. Machado, who was declared ineligible, could not run.

Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia was a last minute replacement for Mrs. Machado and the opposition sees him as the rightful winner. Mr Maduro was declared the winner, but the opposition says there was massive fraud.

In recent weeks, Ms. Machado said she was determined to negotiate a transition with Rodriguez, who was Mr. Maduro’s vice president.

“Negotiations are now necessary, not as capitulation, not as revenge, but as a serious, firm and responsible effort to transform the new political opening into a democratic solution,” she said.

US President Donald Trump’s administration was content to let Rodriguez stay in power as she bowed to their demands and opened up the oil and mining sector to private capital.

According to observers, Washington is not keen on Ms Machado’s speedy return to Venezuela, although she still insists she wants to return “very soon”.

Published – 02 Jun 2026 22:57 IST