On Oct. 10, 2025, the Nobel Peace Prize was awarded to María Corina Machado, the leader and face of Venezuela’s democratic movement for reform. Two weeks later, the United States destroyed another suspected ‘drug boat’ off the coast of Venezuela, making it the 10th such attack, and deployed a large carrier strike group to the Caribbean. As Machado’s movement grows ever more popular, hope rises for a long awaited democratic reform. But fears of a U.S. backed coup and the implications for democracy loom just as large.
Venezuela has been under the rule of only two men for nearly three decades: Hugo Chávez and his successor Nicolás Maduro. It is in desperate need of reform if its people are to have a voice in the politics of their country. Maduro’s claimed victory in the 2024 election, which international observers called a “statistical improbability,” confirmed what most Venezuelans already knew: their votes don’t matter. It is in this context that Machado emerged as a symbol, representing what the Peace Research Institute of Oslo called “the spirit of our age.”
Despite being banned from running in the elections, she demonstrated incredible resilience by appointing Corina Yoris as her alternative for running. Machado’s platform advocates for liberal economic reforms, privatizing state owned oil, and increasing foreign investment. Machado’s advocacy for liberal reforms has struck home with many Venezuelans who have grown tired under a static corrupt regime. While Machado called for genuine change and seems to represent the Venezuelan people’s wish for reform, her growing international backing — and the history of U.S. interest in Venezuela — raises questions about sovereignty, regime change and whether a ‘democratic reform’ occurs at the behest of the people or an interested foreign party.
According to The Economic Times, the U.S. is framing its operations in the Caribbean and Venezuela as anti-narcotics while in reality, it is likely preparing to oust Maduro from power through force. Furthermore, the U.S. has an economic objective in Venezuela, which is of course its oil. Very cliché. Here’s an eerie pattern; from Guatemala in 1954 to Chile in 1973, U.S. backed coups in Latin America were often justified as defenses of democracy but driven by economic self-interest, usually coming in the form of oil, minerals, and fruit. Machado did help her country, founding a voter registration organization and heading a democratic push for reform. One thing to note, however, is that she supports Donald Trump. She expressed during an interview with BBC “how grateful the Venezuelan people are for what he is doing, not only in the Americas, but around the world, for peace, for freedom, for democracy.”
Machado is in a complicated situation; she perfectly knows that the U.S. has its own ambitions, but also sees an opportunity to bring real change to Venezuela. This leads me to conclude that Maria Machado represents a step in a good direction for Venezuela, and I hope that she is able to succeed in her mission to bring democracy back to her country. But the interest of the U.S. is not altruistic, it’s transactional — measured by barrels of oil and stacks of cash. Venezuela deserves a democracy built in Caracas, not in the U.S.
