US captures Maduro: Where is Nobel winner Machado; why she gains most from Trump's move

Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado, who won the 2025 Nobel Peace Prize, has returned to global focus after US President Donald Trump on Saturday claimed that Venezuela’s long-time leader, Nicolas Maduro, has been “captured” amid large-scale American strikes on the South American nation.While Machado has not reacted publicly to Trump’s announcement, the developments place her at the centre of a rapidly shifting political moment in Venezuela. She has previously voiced strong support for Trump’s aggressive approach toward the Maduro regime and has openly backed external pressure, including military intervention, to end what she describes as communist rule in the country.

Machado emerged as the global face of Venezuela’s opposition after winning the Nobel Peace Prize in 2025, an honour that Trump himself was also reportedly seeking.

Her rise has coincided with Washington’s escalating actions against Caracas, including a US military buildup in the Caribbean, strikes on alleged drug-smuggling boats and a blockade on tankers carrying Venezuelan oil.Earlier, Machado travelled to Oslo in Norway, where she received her Nobel Peace Prize. The trip marked her first public appearance after spending more than a year in hiding in Venezuela under constant threat from state authorities.

Her departure from the country was itself dramatic. Media reports in the United States said Machado’s escape involved wearing a disguise, including a wig, and travelling from a small Venezuelan fishing village by wooden boat to the Caribbean island of Curaçao, before boarding a private plane to Norway.The operation was later described in detail by Bryan Stern, a US special forces veteran and founder of the Grey Bull Rescue Foundation, who told the BBC that he led the extraction mission.

Stern said the journey, dubbed Operation Golden Dynamite, involved disguises, two boats navigating choppy seas and a flight out of the region.“The seas are very rough. It's pitch black. We're using flashlights to communicate. This is very scary; lots of things can go wrong,” Stern said, adding that the “formidable” Machado did not complain once during the operation.

Machado had travelled to Norway in defiance of a decade-long travel ban imposed by Venezuelan authorities.

She arrived too late to attend the official Nobel Peace Prize ceremony held last week, with the award being received on her behalf by her daughter.In earlier interviews, Machado has made no secret of her admiration for Trump’s posture toward Caracas. In December, she told CBS News that she was “absolutely” supportive of his strategy.“We, the Venezuelan people, are very grateful to him and to his administration, because I believe he is a champion of freedom in this hemisphere,” Machado said about Trump.Her political position has become even more significant following Trump’s claim that Maduro has been captured, a development that, if confirmed, would dramatically weaken the Venezuelan regime and reshape the country’s power dynamics. Machado has long argued that sustained external pressure was the only way to end Maduro’s rule, and Trump’s actions appear to align closely with her long-held stance.

Last year, Machado, when she was in Norway, had planned to return to Venezuela regardless of whether Maduro was ultimately removed from power.

Her comments came hours after she appeared in public for the first time in 11 months, following her arrival in the Norwegian capital.“I think that the actions of President Trump have been decisive to reach where we are now, where the regime is significantly weaker,” she told reporters. “Because before, the regime thought it had impunity …. Now they start to understand that this is serious, and that the world is watching.”However, she sidestepped direct questions on whether a US military intervention was necessary to oust Maduro. On her return to Venezuela, Machado said timing would depend on security conditions rather than political outcomes.“I would return to Venezuela when we believe the security conditions are right, and it won’t depend on whether or not the regime leaves,” she said.As Washington intensifies pressure on Caracas and Trump projects decisive action, Machado stands to gain the most politically from any weakening or collapse of the Maduro regime. For now, she remains silent on the claim of Maduro’s capture, even as global attention once again turns toward the Nobel laureate widely seen as Venezuela’s most prominent opposition figure.