Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado expressed her gratitude for President Donald Trump over the arrest of Nicol\u00e1s Maduro.<\/b>
\nVenezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado expressed her gratitude for President Donald Trump over the arrest of Nicol\u00e1s Maduro. So much so, she said she wanted to share her Nobel Peace Prize with him.
Machado appeared on Fox News\u2019 \u201cHannity\u201d Monday evening, where she praised the U.S.\u2019 military action in Venezuela, which saw the capture and arrest of Maduro on narco-terrorism charges. Per Machado, she felt Trump deserved the prestigious peace award back in October, noting Maduro\u2019s arrest only proved her point.
\u201cLet me be very clear, as soon as I learned that we had been awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, I dedicated [it] to President Trump,\u201d Machado told host Sean Hannity. \u201cBecause I believed that he deserved it. And a lot of people, most people, said it was impossible to achieve what he has just done on Saturday, Jan. 3. I believed he deserved it in October, imagine now.\u201d
She continued: \u201cI think he has proven to the world what he means. I mean, Jan. 3 will go down in history as the day justice defeated tyranny. It\u2019s a milestone. And it\u2019s not only huge for the Venezuelan people and our future, I think it\u2019s a huge step for humanity, for freedom and human dignity.\u201d
While Machado noted that she has not spoken with Trump since October, she shared how \u201cgrateful\u201d the Venezuelan people are for him.
\u201cI do want to say today, on behalf of the Venezuelan people, how grateful we are for his courageous vision, the historical actions he has taken against this narco-terrorist regime, to start dismantling this structure and bringing Maduro to justice,\u201d she went on. \u201cWhich means that 30 million Venezuelans are now closer to freedom, but also, that United States of America is a safer country nowadays.\u201d
On whether she outright offered Trump her Nobel Peace Prize \u2014 which she was awarded for her fight against a dictatorship \u2014 Machado said \u201cit hasn\u2019t happened yet.\u201d
She added: \u201cBut I would love to be able to personally tell him that the Venezuelan people \u2026 want to give it to him and share it with him.\u201d
Watch the full interview above.
Machado\u2019s appearance on Fox News marked her first interview since Maduro was deposed on Saturday. She is best known as Maduro\u2019s most notable opponent, having left Venezuela in October to accept the peace prize for her \u201ctireless work promoting democratic rights for the people of Venezuela and for her struggle to achieve a just and peaceful transition from dictatorship to democracy,\u201d per the Norwegian Nobel Committee.
Machado has not returned to Venezuela since accepting the Nobel Peace Prize, but said on Monday that she is \u201cplanning to go as soon as possible back home.\u201d
Delcy Rodriguez, Venezuela\u2019s vice president and oil minister, has since been sworn in as the country\u2019s interim president. However, Machado\u2019s name has arisen in regards to future leadership for Venezuela.
Yet, Trump shut down the idea of Machado stepping into the role of president on Saturday, saying she didn\u2019t \u201chave the support within or the respect within the country.\u201d<\/p>\n