Venezuela needs India's voice as it's a great democracy: Machado

Maria Corina Machado, winner of the 2025 Nobel Peace Prize, who has waged a more-than-two-decade-long campaign for the restoration of democracy in Venezuela, has hailed India as a "great democracy" and an "example" for other countries.

In an interview to Times Now from an undisclosed location (she has been in hiding for 15 months), Machado said India could be a "great ally" with whom Venezuela can strengthen ties on multiple fronts once a peaceful transition to democracy is achieved. Machado also said she hoped to speak to PM Modi and "host him in a free Venezuela very soon."About India's place in the world, Machado said, "India has been an example for many countries, for many generations, of being the largest democracy in the region and in the world.

This is huge. And you also have a responsibility to take good care of it because so many people, countries around the world look up to you. Democracies can always be strengthened and should never be taken for granted.""I admire India with all my heart," Machado said. "My daughter was there just a couple of months ago, but I've never been to India. She loves your country. I have many friends, Venezuelan friends that live there.

And of course, I follow Indian politics." Machado said she was inspired by Mahatma Gandhi's non-violent struggle for freedom. "Being peaceful is not weakness and Gandhi showed the whole humanity what that meant.

""We need India's voice as a great democracy, to speak out for the rights of the Venezuelan people and popular sovereignty. I also want to imagine once Venezuela moves ahead and we dismantle all the criminal socialist structures, that have brought so much pain and devastation, there will be great opportunities for Indian companies to invest not only in energy, but also in infrastructure and telecom." Machado spoke at length about the 2024 Presidential elections, a verdict she alleged was stolen by the Venezuelan govt under Nicholas Maduro despite overwhelming documentary evidence of the opposition's victory.Machado recalled, "On July 28, 2024, we won a presidential election by a landslide. I had been previously elected as the primary winner to be the opposition candidate. I won with 93% of the votes, but the regime banned me from running as a candidate.

So, a very courageous and honest man, a career diplomat, accepted this huge responsibility and honour. We won with 70% of the vote and we were able to prove it. We gathered 85% of the original tally sheets.

We digitised them. Once we won, we offered Maduro the possibility of a negotiated transition in which we offered guarantees. But he refused and unleashed the worst repression wave we've seen in our history. Thousands of innocent Venezuelans have disappeared.

Children and women were abused, tortured, even killed."Machado also described US President Trump as a "main ally" in the fight for democracy in Venezuela. "The whole world knows the kind of criminals these individuals (Maduro and his colleagues) are, but now with firm action on behalf of the US, and the Trump administration, and this coalition that has been building with countries in Latin America, in the Caribbean, in Europe, I hope in Asia as well, Maduro has started to understand that his time is over, and that his best option is to accept the terms of a negotiated transition with guarantees that we have offered.

"