Nobel Peace Prize winner María Corina Machado has backed President Trump’s boat strikes in the Caribbean Sea, placing blame for deaths from U.S. air strikes squarely on the shoulders of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro.
“We asked for years, [for the] international community to cut the sources that come from drug trafficking and other criminal activities,” Machado told journalist Mishal Husain in a Friday episode of her titular Bloomberg podcast. “Finally, this is happening.”
“This is about saving lives,” the Venezuelan opposition leader said in response to a question about whether the deaths caused by strikes on perceived drug trafficking boats were justified. “Maduro is absolutely conscious and has been warned what not to do.”
“These deaths are the responsibility of Nicolás Maduro,” she continued. “He, and the rest of the drug cartels in power in Venezuela, should stop these activities in order to prevent more deaths.”
The Trump administration has carried out boat strikes against multiple vessels in the Caribbean Sea and the Eastern Pacific, allegedly targeting “narco-terrorists” trafficking drugs into the U.S. Several of these strikes have occurred off the coast of Venezuela.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth announced that the U.S. had conducted another strike against a boat carrying “narco-terrorists” on Wednesday, bringing the total amount of people killed during strikes up to 61, according to the Trump administration.
Both Democrats and Republicans have cast doubt on the legality of the strikes. The Trump administration previously declared the U.S. to be at war with drug cartels to provide a legal rationale for the strikes, but Senate Democrats have argued that it violates the law, including those barring assassinations.
The boat strikes are part of a U.S. campaign applying increased pressure against Maduro’s government, which the Trump administration has called “illegitimate.” The administration has also significantly increased its military presence in the Caribbean, in an apparent effort to intimidate the Venezuelan president.
Trump also revealed earlier this month that he authorized the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) to conduct covert operations in Venezuela and also signaled that the U.S. might conduct land strikes in the country.
“I think we’re just going to kill people that are bringing drugs into our country, OK?” Trump told reporters last week. “We’re going to kill them.”
Machado — a heavy critic of Maduro’s government — won the Nobel Peace Prize earlier this month after Trump and his allies led a campaign seeking the prize for the president’s involvement in ending several global conflicts.
She thanked Trump in her acceptance speech, praising him for his “decisive support” of democracy in Venezuela. Machado has been living in hiding in the South American nation since last year after Maduro ascended once again to the presidential seat in a vote widely criticized as rigged.
In her conversation with Husain, Machado said she had been in touch with several U.S. government officials, including Secretary of State Marco Rubio. In response to a question about the due process rights of those killed in the U.S. boat strikes, she said there was “a very cruel war” going on.
“Maduro is not a conventional dictator,” she added. “We’re facing a narcoterrorist structure that has turned Venezuelan territory, Venezuelan resources, Venezuelan institutions into the activities of a criminal cartel.”
