Nobel Peace Prize winner Machado praises India as a ‘great democracy,’ hopes to host PM Modi in a ‘free Venezuela’

New Delhi: Maria Corina Machado, winner of the 2025 Nobel Peace Prize, has lauded India as a "great democracy” and an "example” for the world, saying the country could be a vital ally in Venezuela’s democratic transition. Speaking to Times Now from an undisclosed location, where she has been in hiding for over 15 months, Machado said she looks forward to strengthening ties with India once her country returns to democracy.

Machado expressed her admiration for India’s democratic spirit and leadership on the global stage. "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,” she said.

"I admire India with all my heart,” she added. "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.”

Drawing inspiration from Mahatma Gandhi, Machado said, "Being peaceful is not weakness and Gandhi showed the whole humanity what that meant.” She called on India to "speak out for the rights of the Venezuelan people and popular sovereignty,” noting that a future democratic Venezuela could offer "great opportunities for Indian companies to invest not only in energy, but also in infrastructure and telecom.”

Recalling the controversial 2024 Venezuelan presidential election, Machado alleged that the Nicolás Maduro government "stole” the opposition’s victory. "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.”

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Machado also called US President Donald Trump a "main ally” in the global push 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.”

Expressing optimism about the future, Machado said she hopes to meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi soon and "host him in a free Venezuela very soon.”