Opposition leader and Nobel Peace Prize laureate María Corina Machado said she plans to return to Venezuela “in a few weeks” to help steer what she described as an “orderly, sustainable and unstoppable transition to democracy,” despite a sharp warning from interim Chavista President Delcy Rodríguez.

In a video message released from the United States on Sunday, Machado said her return would focus on forging a “broad national agreement” to guarantee governability and prepare for “a new and massive electoral victory.” “For all of this, I will return to Venezuela in a few weeks.

I want to do so just as hundreds and thousands of Venezuelan exiles around the world wish to,” she said.

Machado left Venezuela last December to travel to Norway to receive the Nobel Peace Prize medal after spending a year in hiding to avoid arrest by the regime.

Authorities had issued a warrant amid an intensifying crackdown on opposition leaders.

Her announcement comes during a fragile political transition following the Jan.

3 capture and removal of Nicolás Maduro in a U.S.

operation that Washington described as the culmination of a prolonged investigation.

Machado portrayed the episode as a decisive turning point.

“For years we said that this regime would only relinquish power when confronted with real force and a credible threat,” she said.

“First we had to defeat them spiritually, then politically, then electorally and finally militarily.

We said it would happen — and it did.” She reiterated the opposition’s claim that Maduro had been “overwhelmingly defeated” in the July 28, 2024, presidential election by opposition candidate Edmundo González Urrutia.

Maduro’s allies rejected those claims and maintained control of state institutions.

Machado credited President Donald Trump with playing a decisive role in Maduro’s arrest, saying he “brought Nicolás Maduro before international justice.” She thanked the U.S.

government, members of Congress and U.S.

service members “who risked their lives for Venezuela’s freedom and for the national security of their country and the security of all the Americas.” During her stay in the United States, Machado said she met with Trump, Secretary of....