Venezuela opposition leader María Corina Machado rejoiced Saturday at the Trump administration’s military strike that captured dictator Nicolas Maduro.
“Venezuelans, the hour of freedom has arrived,” Ms. Machado declared after the U.S. announced the military operation in the Venezuelan capital of Caracas.
“From today, Nicolás Maduro will face international justice for the atrocious crimes committed against Venezuelans and against citizens of many other nations,” Ms. Machado said in a statement in Spanish on Saturday, adding that the U.S. government has fulfilled its promise to uphold the rule of law.
After Ms. Machado was voted to be the opposition figure for the 2024 presidential election, the Maduro government barred her from running.
President Trump on Saturday called the disputed election of Mr. Maduro a disgrace and said that removing him would help establish new leadership for the betterment of the country.
Ms. Machado urged the military to recognize opposition leader Edmundo González Urrutia, who ran against Mr. Maduro in the last election, as the rightful president of Venezuela.
It was not clear if Ms. Machado, who escaped to Norway in secret last month, was in Venezuela.
The U.S. government recognized Mr. Urrutia as the president-elect of the South American country months after Mr. Maduro claimed to have won in 2024.
Mr. Trump said that the U.S. will be heavily involved in who becomes the country’s leader next.
Ms. Machado said that the country will remain vigilant, active and organized until a democratic transition is concrete, adding that it is “a transition that needs ALL of us.”
In a Saturday press conference, Mr. Trump also said that the U.S. will “run” Venezuela until the new government can be put in place.
“We’re going to run the country until such time as we can do a proper and judicious transition,” he said. “We don’t want to be involved with someone else get in, and we have the same situation that we had for the last long period of years.”
Ms. Machado called on Venezuelans abroad to be ready to mobilize and help build “the new Venezuela.”
An estimated 8 million Venezuelans have left the country in recent years amid a worsening economy, international isolation and political repression.
After U.S. forces captured Mr. Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, the couple was placed aboard the U.S. warship Iwo Jima and headed to New York.
Attorney General Pamela Bondi announced on social media that Mr. Maduro has been charged with narco-terrorism conspiracy, cocaine importation conspiracy, possession of machine guns and destructive devices and conspiracy to possess machine guns and destructive devices against the U.S.
• Mary McCue Bell can be reached at mbell@washingtontimes.com.
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