Machado says "I absolutely support President Trump's strategy" on Venezuela

Washington — Venezuelan absorption person María Corina Machado said she's "absolutely" supportive of President Trump's strategy successful the state amid his administration's accrued unit run against the authorities of President Nicolás Maduro. 

"We, the Venezuelan people, are precise grateful to him and to his administration, due to the fact that I judge helium is simply a champion of state successful this hemisphere," Machado said of Mr. Trump connected "Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan."

Last week, the Venezuelan absorption person made a daring escape from her state to cod her Nobel Peace Prize successful Norway. The quality marked the first clip Machado has been seen successful public successful astir a year, aft surviving successful hiding successful Venezuela. In an exclusive interrogation with "Face the Nation," Machado said she dedicated the grant to Mr. Trump due to the fact that "he yet has enactment Venezuela successful wherever it should be, successful presumption of a precedence for the United States nationalist security."

"We person been asking this for years, truthful it's yet happening," Machado said. "That's wherefore I judge the authorities has its days numbered."

The U.S. has accrued unit connected the Maduro authorities successful caller weeks, with a buildup of subject assets successful the region, strikes connected alleged cause boats disconnected the seashore of Venezuela, new sanctions connected Venezuelan individuals and vessels, on with the seizure of an lipid rig. 

Machado acknowledged that much sanctions and much imaginable seizures of lipid travel with the hazard of cutting disconnected the already impoverished radical of Venezuela. But she said "what we're doing is for the good being of the Venezuelan people."

"What we privation to bash is to prevention lives, but Maduro was the 1 who declared a warfare connected the Venezuelan people," Machado said. "A warfare we didn't want. A warfare we are suffering with hundreds of thousands of killings and forced executions successful the past years."

Asked by Brennan whether she wants much seizures and a blockade, Machado said "we privation each ineligible enactment done instrumentality enforcement approach," not lone from the U.S., but besides from Caribbean, Latin American and European countries to "further artifact the amerciable activities of the regime." 

"Why? Because we request to summation the outgo of staying successful powerfulness by force. Once you get to that constituent successful which the outgo of staying successful powerfulness is higher than the outgo of leaving power, the authorities volition autumn apart, and it's the infinitesimal wherever we, you know, beforehand into a negotiated transition," Machado said. 

Maduro refused to permission aft past year's presidential election, adjacent aft tallies showed the absorption winning astir 70% of the vote. But Machado said things person changed importantly successful caller months, and Venezuela is simply a "total antithetic country."

"Maduro is weaker than ever. The Armed Forces, constabulary are surely divided and fractured, and our state is united, cohesive, and we yet person the administration, successful this case, President Trump with a wide strategy that genuinely represents a credible menace for the regime," she said. "So if we had ever had a accidental to yet determination up into, towards ideology successful our country, it's today."

Asked whether she would welcome U.S. subject action successful Venezuela, Machado said "I volition invited much and much unit truthful that Maduro understands that helium has to go, that his clip is over."

On the task of keeping the state unneurotic aft Maduro's authorities leaves, Machado cited practice with cardinal allies, saying, "our main state volition beryllium the United States of America." On the question of whether that would see U.S. troops connected the ground, Machado said she doesn't "think that's the case."

"There are different countries that person offered enactment arsenic good successful bid to fortify antiauthoritarian institutions erstwhile the government-elect is successful place, but that we volition person to code that erstwhile we person the, you know, the government-elect successful spot and enactment successful order, bringing bid backmost to our country."

Machado said "the time Maduro goes, you volition spot tens of thousands, hundreds of thousands of Venezuelan migrants coming backmost location from the United States and each implicit the world."

"Our diaspora is hopeless to spell backmost to Venezuela," she said. "So adjacent from that perspective, it is simply a win-win concern to person ideology successful Venezuela."