: 'We know what we need to do' | Fortune

"Good morning. A little over two months ago, I interviewed Venezuelan opposition leader and 2025 Nobel Peace Prize winner Mariá Corina Machado at the Fortune Global Forum. She spoke to us from an undisclosed location, later escaped to Norway, and remains in hiding. One of the most prominent advocates for reform in a country that was praised as a stable and affluent democracy just a generation ago, Machado was blocked from running for president in Venezuela's 2024 election."

"With Donald Trump's surprise invasion of Venezuela to arrest President Nicolás Maduro and his wife on drug trafficking charges, many might have assumed that Machado would be chosen to lead. Instead, Trump picked Maduro's deputy, Delcy Rodríguez, saying Machado lacked the respect needed. Of course, much can change in the coming days. Rodríguez described Trump's move as a criminal military intervention that violated international law while Machado thanked the U.S. for its action in a letter posted on X."

"But anyone who leads Venezuela right now faces a Faustian choice, as Trump has said the U.S. will temporarily "run" the country and boasted that Americans are "going to be taking a tremendous amount of wealth out of the ground" from the country's vast oil reserves. Rodríguez refuses to accept any violation of national sovereignty, despite Trump's threats, and Machado won't, either."

María Corina Machado, a 2025 Nobel Peace Prize winner, spoke from an undisclosed location, later fled to Norway, and remains in hiding. She was a leading advocate for reform and was blocked from running in Venezuela's 2024 presidential election; Edmundo González ran in her place and won according to independent observers. The U.S. launched a surprise invasion to arrest President Nicolás Maduro and his wife on drug trafficking charges. President Trump named Maduro's deputy Delcy Rodríguez to lead instead of Machado and threatened temporary U.S. control of Venezuela's oil resources. Rodríguez condemned the intervention as a violation of international law. Machado welcomed U.S. support but expressed hesitation about unilateral military actions as the U.S. deployed warships and destroyed Venezuelan boats over suspected drug trafficking.

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