Opposition Figure Calls for US Attack on Venezuela — Links to Washington, Rubio Revealed

By Staff, Agencies

Venezuelan opposition figure María Corina Machado—this year’s Nobel Peace Prize laureate—has openly called for US military intervention against her own country, revealing her alignment with Washington’s campaign to remove President Nicolás Maduro. Her statements, coupled with new revelations about US funding and coordination with right-wing allies, have drawn fierce condemnation in Caracas as an act of national betrayal.

In an interview with Bloomberg’s Mishal Husain Show, Machado said she would “welcome” US military action if it helps force President Maduro from power. “I believe the escalation that’s taking place is the only way to force Maduro to understand that it’s time to go,” she declared, referring to the ongoing buildup of US naval forces off Venezuela’s coast.

Washington, under President Donald Trump, has accused Maduro of “narcoterrorism” and deployed a large naval armada to the western Caribbean earlier this year. Although Trump denied plans for direct strikes, reports suggest that the US military has already targeted alleged drug-smuggling vessels and reviewed lists of potential sites inside Venezuela.

Machado, barred from running in last year’s election, claims opposition candidate Edmundo González Urrutia was the rightful winner. “This is not regime change,” she insisted, “this is enforcing the will of the Venezuelan people,” while labeling Maduro “the head of a narcoterrorist structure.”

President Maduro, however, condemned Machado’s remarks as proof of her role as a “proxy for Washington’s fascist agenda.” He accused her of channeling US funds to destabilize the country and of “begging for foreign bombs against her own people.”

Maduro has repeatedly warned that the United States is “fabricating a new war,” calling the military buildup a clear violation of Venezuela’s sovereignty. Caracas has since strengthened its defense ties with Russia, China and Iran—three nations that have all denounced Washington’s actions. Russia, in particular, ratified a new strategic partnership treaty with Venezuela on Monday, reaffirming its support for Caracas against external aggression.

Further exposing Machado’s foreign entanglements, a Drop Site News investigation revealed that the US spent $18 million in 2024 alone funding Venezuelan opposition groups—part of a larger $213 million five-year campaign to undermine leftist governments in Latin America. Much of this funding reportedly supported Machado’s international activities through USAID.

Despite USAID’s formal disbandment in February 2025, the Trump administration has allegedly rerouted over $400 million toward covert initiatives targeting Venezuela, Cuba, and Nicaragua. These efforts, analysts say, demonstrate Washington’s continued attempt to orchestrate “color revolutions” under the guise of democracy promotion.

Machado also confirmed her close ties with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio—one of the most aggressive advocates of regime change in Latin America. “He’s among those in Washington who best understand the threats posed from our region,” she said, boasting of her “really good friends and champions” across both major US political parties.

Her comments coincide with a Miami Herald report claiming the Trump administration is preparing to launch strikes against Venezuela’s military installations “at any moment.” Though Trump publicly denied these plans, multiple sources told the newspaper that strikes “could come within hours or days.”

Maduro’s government condemned these threats as proof of the “imperialist conspiracy” being coordinated between Washington and its local agents. “What Machado and her backers call democracy,” a senior Venezuelan official said, “is nothing less than surrendering our nation’s sovereignty to the same empire that has strangled our economy with sanctions.”

As Venezuela strengthens regional alliances and mobilizes in defense of its independence, Machado’s open call for foreign aggression has marked her—both domestically and internationally—as a symbol of treason. In the words of a government statement released Friday:

“No prize or propaganda can conceal the truth—those who invite bombs on their own land are not patriots but instruments of colonial domination.”