Machado advocates for a 'peaceful, credible, and disciplined' transition in Venezuela

Venezuelan opposition leader and 2025 Nobel Peace Prize laureate María Corina Machado is championing a "peaceful, credible, and disciplined" transition for her country. Speaking at the Oslo Freedom Forum, Machado emphasized the need for order as Venezuela emerges from repression, institutional destruction, and economic collapse. She specifically recognized the strategic importance of the framework promoted by the U.S. government, which focuses on institutional stabilization, economic and social reconstruction, and democratic transition.

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A country that emerges from repression, institutional destruction and economic collapse needs order. It needs a transition that is peaceful, credible and disciplined. That is why we recognize the strategic value of the framework driven by the U.S. Government, focused on institutional stabilization, economic and social reconstruction, and democratic transition.

Machado stated that Venezuela requires "governability," which entails rebuilding institutions, restoring the country's functionality, and establishing the foundations for a democratic and free society. In such a society, power would be limited by law, authorities would be accountable to citizens, and the state would serve the nation. "This will require discipline. It will require agreements. It will require coalitions broad enough to govern and strong enough to drive the necessary reforms. It will require the courage to sit down at the table with people who think differently and still find common ground in service of the country," she asserted.

The opposition leader defended the "Panama manifesto," recently presented by the majority sector of the Venezuelan opposition. This proposal outlines a political negotiation with the government of acting president Delcy Rodríguez, with accompaniment from the United States. Machado, who was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize last year, would lead this negotiation, with the primary objective of holding presidential elections under international observation.

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Venezuela needs governability, with the reconstruction of institutions, the restoration of the country's functioning and the creation of bases for a democratic and free society in which power is limited by law, authorities are accountable to citizens and the state is at the service of the nation.

Machado believes this path is the way to transform the mandate from the July 28, 2024, presidential elections, which the opposition asserts was given to Edmundo González Urrutia, not Nicolás Maduro, into a peaceful, orderly, and democratic transition. "If the path to a peaceful, negotiated, and democratic solution requires returning to the polls under truly free and fair conditions, then we are prepared," Machado declared. She expressed confidence that "the Venezuelan people will ratify their mandate and that, under free and fair conditions, they will do so with even greater force."

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This will require discipline. It will require agreements. It will require coalitions broad enough to govern and strong enough to drive the necessary reforms. It will require the courage to sit down at the table with people who think differently and still find common ground in service of the country.

Machado stressed that a successful transition must be enshrined in a national agreement, and "no national agreement can endure in Venezuela unless the people are at the center." The opposition leader reiterated her intention to return to Venezuela "soon," describing her country's "long, painful, and extraordinary" journey "towards freedom" as having entered its "final and definitive phase."

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If the path to a peaceful, negotiated, and democratic solution requires returning to the polls under truly free and fair conditions, then we are prepared.