Opposition leader María Corina Machado has suggested that she supports global actions to cut off sources of revenue flowing to Venezuela’s government.
Her remarks came a day after the Trump administration’s seizure of an oil tanker off the coast of Venezuela.
US Attorney General Pam Bondi said the seized oil tanker had been sanctioned by the US for multiple years “due to its involvement in an illicit oil shipping network supporting foreign terrorist organizations,” including Venezuela and Iran.
Speaking at a press conference organized by the Nobel committee in Norway, Machado asserted that the regime is using the cash flows that come from illegal activities, including the black market of oil to “repress and persecute our people.”
“So yes, these criminal groups have to be stopped, and cutting the sources of illegal activities is a very necessary step to take.
“We know that our regime is supporting itself thanks to other authoritarian regimes. We need the support of all democracies in the world. That’s why we are certainly asking the world to act.”
María Corina Machado
Also, Machado expressed belief that US President Donald Trump’s actions have been “decisive” in weakening the regime of Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro.
“The regime previously thought that they could do anything, anything. They felt they had absolute impunity. Now, they start to understand that this is serious and the world is really watching.”
María Corina Machado
She added that the costs for Maduro staying in power needed to be raised, and the costs of leaving power lowered.
In response to a different question about the United States’ actions and unconfirmed speculation about whether the US have given Maduro a deadline to leave power, she noted that she won’t speculate on strategies or measures to be carried out by foreign countries in terms of foreign policy.
Additionally,Machado disclosed that she doesn’t yet have plans to visit other European capitals or the United States, but has received “quite a few invitations” during her time so far in Norway.
“To be absolutely honest, I’m taking one day at a time. There was great uncertainty if I was able to come, so I had not made many plans.
“Now that I’m here, I certainly want to spend a few hours with my colleagues, friends and my children.”
María Corina Machado
She revealed that she also has some doctors’ appointments and meetings to attend after being in hiding for the last 15 months. “There are some meetings that I believe could be very useful that I do before I go back home,” Machado said.
Machado narrowly missed the Nobel Peace Prize ceremony yesterday, and instead her daughter accepted the award on her behalf.
Machado To Return To Venezuela
Moreover, Venezuelan opposition leader and Nobel laureate María Corina Machado said that she will be back in Venezuela very soon. “I’ll be back in Venezuela, I have no doubt,” Machado said during the news conference.
“My duty was to come here and take this Nobel Prize, to take it back to Venezuela, and I’ll be back very soon.
“And I know that you will also be back in Venezuela very soon, we’re going to show the world that we do not only deserve this Nobel Prize, but that this generation will outlast what is going on.”
María Corina Machado
The government of Nicolás Maduro warned she would be considered a “fugitive” by authorities should she leave Venezuela.
Machado said that she has met many Venezuelans on the streets in Oslo, including people who told her “they are preparing their bags to come back home to build a nation that will be so proud.”
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