Machado's statements to reporters came hours after she appeared in public for the first time in 11 months, following her arrival in Norway's capital, Oslo, where her daughter received the Nobel Peace Prize award on her behalf on Wednesday.
The actions of President Donald Trump "have been decisive to reach where we are now, where the regime is significantly weaker,” she said. “Because before, the regime thought it had impunity …. Now they start to understand that this is serious, and that the world is watching.”
Machado sidestepped questions on whether a U.S. military intervention is necessary to remove Maduro from power. She told reporters that she would return to Venezuela “when we believe the security conditions are right, and it won’t depend on whether or not the regime leaves.”
Machado arrived in Oslo hours after Wednesday's prize ceremony and made her first public appearance early Thursday, emerging from a hotel balcony and waving to an emotional crowd of supporters. She had been in hiding since Jan. 9, when she was briefly detained after joining supporters during a protest in Caracas.
Machado left Venezuela at a critical point in the country’s protracted crisis, with the Trump administration carrying out deadly military operations in the Caribbean and threatening repeatedly to strike Venezuelan soil. The White House has said the operations, which have killed more than 80 people, are meant to stop the flow of tons of deadly drugs, such as fentanyl, into the U.S.
