Archive · 13 Dec 2025
Machado Vows Change as Venezuela-US Tensions Rise
Maria Corina Machado, a Nobel Peace Prize winner from Venezuela, recently traveled to Norway to collect her prize, defying a travel ban.
She wants President Nicolas Maduro to step down, either through negotiation or other means.
Meanwhile, the U.S. has seized a Venezuelan oil tanker and is increasing its military presence in the Caribbean.
The U.S. does not recognize Maduro as the legitimate leader of Venezuela and has imposed new sanctions.
Machado has been in hiding for over a year and has aligned herself with U.S. hardliners.
The Venezuelan government has condemned the tanker seizure as 'blatant theft' and 'international piracy'.
Maria Corina Machado, a Nobel Peace Prize winner, defied a travel ban to collect her prize in Oslo and vowed to bring political change to Venezuela.
The U.S. seized a Venezuelan oil tanker, marking the first such capture since sanctions were imposed in 2019, and plans more seizures to choke off sanctioned oil flows.
President Donald Trump's administration does not recognize Nicolas Maduro as Venezuela's legitimate leader and has imposed new sanctions on Maduro's relatives and linked tankers.
Machado has been in hiding for over a year and is aligned with U.S. hardliners who accuse Maduro of ties to criminal networks.
The U.S. military presence in the Caribbean has grown, with over 20 military strikes this year against suspected drug vessels, alarming human rights advocates and stirring debate among U.S. lawmakers.
- Who
- Maria Corina Machado, Venezuelan opposition leader and Nobel Peace Prize winner
- What
- Machado's promise of political change in Venezuela and U.S. seizure of a Venezuelan oil tanker
- When
- On Friday, December 12
- Where
- Oslo, Norway and Venezuela
- Why
- To achieve an orderly and peaceful transition of power from President Nicolas Maduro and to choke off sanctioned oil flows
- Nobel Peace Prize Winner
- Maria Corina Machado
- Current Venezuelan President
- Nicolas Maduro
- Machado's Status in Election
- Barred from running
- Machado's Primary Win
- Landslide victory in opposition primary
- Machado's Travel Ban
- Defied a decade-long travel ban
- Machado's Hiding Duration
- Over a year in hiding
- Machado's Nobel Prize Dedication
- Partially dedicated to U.S. President Donald Trump
- Machado's Alignment
- With hawks close to Trump
- U.S. Seized Tanker
- Skipper tanker off Venezuela’s coast
- U.S. Military Presence
- Grown in the Caribbean
- U.S. Military Strikes
- Over 20 strikes in the Caribbean and Pacific this year
- Venezuela's Response
- Condemned the tanker seizure as 'blatant theft' and 'international piracy'
- Venezuela's ICC Move
- Suspended a U.S. migrant repatriation flight
Sources
Venezuela’s Nobel laureate Machado says she aims for peaceful transition after Maduro
'Negotiated or not': Maduro must go, says Machado in Oslo, calling for peaceful transition
Venezuela-US tensions spike in wake of seized tanker as Nobel winner vows change
Inside the daring escape of Venezuelan leader Machado to Norway, scripted by US Special Forces veteran
Op Golden Dynamite: How Machado Fled Venezuela To Receive Nobel Prize
