Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado has been doing a lot of talking lately, and she’s said some interesting things. First of all, she’s talking to the president. Apparently, she and Donald Trump have been in touch in the almost two weeks following her trip to the White House, where she presented him with her Nobel Peace Prize. He’s confirmed that himself. And she’s meeting with various bipartisan members of Congress and other important people in Washington, D.C.
She’s also talking to the media, making Venezuela’s case for the world, something she promised to do as soon as she escaped the country.
During a recent chat with the New York Post, Machado reiterated that bringing democracy back to her nation is her top priority. She also said that if Trump helps with that lofty goal, that it will help define his legacy. She called it a “Berlin Wall” moment, implying it will cement his place in history like the actual Berlin Wall did for Ronald Reagan.
“For the first time in history, you will have the Americas free of communism, dictatorship, and narcoterrorism,” she said. Machado has long held the view that if the Nicolás Maduro falls, the dictatorships in Cuba and Nicaragua will follow.
But even she understands that this won’t happen overnight. For now, she says that the “repression hasn’t eased since Maduro’s arrest — it has simply shifted.”
“If Delcy Rodríguez stays, nothing truly changes,” she said. “There will be no rule of law, no trust, no stability. Venezuelans will not come home under a criminal.”
But she added that with a legitimate government, the transformation could happen almost overnight, “producing millions of barrels of oil a day, attracting billions in American investment, and reversing mass migration.”
She pointed out that a transition away from the Maduro regime would make Trump’s new version of the Monroe Doctrine permanent if it’s done before 2029. “This can be done in three years, and I believe it will happen, and we have to take advantage of such a clear, strong, and courageous leadership as the president’s.”
She also claims that the remaining members of the Maduro regime only have “terror” keeping them afloat. She said that Rodríguez “designed the torture system,” and it’s the only tool left in their playbook post Maduro arrest. That’s why the release of political prisoners — and ensuring that the regime stops arresting people for political reasons in the meantime — is a top priority.
We’re already seeing tiny shifts. As I reported on Sunday, young people, especially college students, are casting their fears aside and standing arm-in-arm with the families of political prisoners, demanding their release. Machado mentioned that in her Post interview too.
Related: Did Trump Embolden Venezuela’s Sleeping Giant?
There’s also the actual release of political prisoners. For the last few weeks, it’s been a slow trickle, but over the weekend, there was quite a jump. As of Monday morning, the human rights group Foro Penal has verified that 266 are no longer detained, and that number may be even higher — they are working to confirm. Still hundreds to go, but it’s the best progress we’ve seen yet.
Venezuelans are celebrating in the streets the release of hundreds of political prisoners, thanks to President Trump.
Hundreds of hostages of the Chavista dictatorship still remain imprisoned, but many families have already been reunited with their loved ones.
We want them… pic.twitter.com/tuLxU7hnHq
— Emmanuel Rincón (@EmmaRincon) January 26, 2026
As a matter of fact, Donald Trump posted on social media on Monday evening that “I am pleased to report that Venezuela is releasing its Political Prisoners at a rapid rate, which rate will be increasing over the coming short period of time. I’d like to thank the leadership of Venezuela for agreeing to this powerful humanitarian gesture!”
Thank you, President Trump, for your hard work in freeing these political prisoners.
May they be freed swiftly! pic.twitter.com/VvKuKONqMr
— House Foreign Affairs Committee Majority (@HouseForeignGOP) January 26, 2026
But while the regime continues to terrify citizens, it’s also terrified itself. There are rumors that Maduro wet himself when he was captured on January 3, and I have no doubt that the rest of the regime is on the verge of doing the same every single day. They know what will happen if they misstep.
“…[I]n the end there are some things that Delcy Rodríguez will be able to hand over by force, because she is terrified of President Trump, there is no doubt about that,” Machado said earlier this month when she spoke at the Heritage Foundation. “But there are things that Delcy Rodríguez, and none of the members of the criminal organization, will ever be able to provide: trust, the rule of law, reconciliation, citizen participation, and support.”
Notable Venezuelans who live in the United States and are aligned with the opposition joke that Delcy and her brother, Jorge, are now employees of the very U.S. government that they hate so much. I like to call them pawns, but it’s true.
As a matter of fact, Jorge, who is president of the National Assembly and a key member of the regime, has been speaking out recently about how they’re reforming laws — laws they made — to make it so that private investors from Venezuela or other parts of the world can come in and “let the money flow so we can start producing more oil” — as if it was all his idea.
Venezuelan writer and lawyer Emmanuel Rincón joked that he’s “repeating the script they gave him in Washington,” and the reality is that most everything he said about it sounds like something straight from Trump’s mouth.
And that’s one reason why I feel more confident than ever that Trump and Marco Rubio have this largely under control at the moment, and we may very well see a free and thriving Venezuela again in the near future.
Like Jorge’s language, there are other signs. I’ve been listening to Machado over the past couple of weeks since she first met with Trump, and there’s a subtle change in the way she talks — increased confidence. She seems more optimistic and sure of what’s to come than ever before.
Delcy is also dialing up the rhetoric while speeding up the president’s agenda.
Over the weekend, she spoke in front of a group of oil workers in Venezuela and made headlines for stating “Enough already of Washington’s orders over politicians in Venezuela. Let Venezuelan politics resolve our differences and our internal conflicts. This Republic has paid a very high price for having to confront the consequences of fascism and extremism in our country.”
On Monday, during another public event, she said, “We are not afraid. Nor are we afraid of maintaining respectful relations with the United States, but they must be based on respect – respect for international law, basic human respect in interpersonal relations, and respect for the dignity and history of Venezuela”
The MSM takes these quotes and runs these headlines, like CNN’s here, “Venezuela’s acting president says she has had ‘enough’ of US orders,” which I guess gets them clicks or, even if it doesn’t, tells people who just skim headlines that Trump doesn’t actually have control over this woman, but they leave out the fact that while she’s saying one thing, she’s acting entirely different.
There have also been unconfirmed reports that the Rodríguez siblings actually worked with the United States behind Maduro’s back, handing him over in order to save their own souls.
Conveniently, audio, supposedly from a meeting Delcy had with regime supporters. was “leaked” last week. In it, she claimed that she and Jorge and Diosdado Cabello were given 15 minutes to respond to the United States on the night of the “savage” and “criminal” attack that led to us taking Maduro about whether they would cooperate.
“We have to acknowledge it, we are facing a nuclear power,” she said. “We didn’t face it with fear, so you know…Diosdado, Jorge, and I were given fifteen minutes to respond, otherwise they were going to kill us.”
She added, “[W]e said, ‘We are ready to suffer the same fate.’ And I tell you, we maintain that statement to this day, because the threats are constant, the blackmail is constant, and we must proceed with patience and strategic prudence, with very clear objectives, brothers and sisters, clear objectives.”
You have to wonder if anyone is actually buying her act or if they’re just afraid to say anything a this point. My guess is the latter. The way the regime is structured collective loyalty is a must.
Finally, U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent pretty much confirmed what’s going on in a recent interview, stating “We will slowly start taking off the sanctions…we have left members of the government in place, and they will administer the country. We will sell the oil, maybe some other resources, keep it in escrow for the benefit of the Venezuelan people, and then when we believe it is time, there will be free and fair elections.”
As I said, all of this tells me that Trump and Rubio and the rest of the administration have a better handle on things than meets the eye — or than Democrats and the MSM want to admit — and if they can keep it, Machado may be right. This could definitely be Trump’s Berlin Wall moment.
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