María Corina Machado Parisca (born 7 October 1967) is a Venezuelan politician and activist. A prominent opposition leader to the goverments of Hugo Chávez and Nicolás Maduro, she served as a member of the National Assembly from 2011 to 2014, and has run as a candidate in presidential elections while experiencing repression from the Maduro regime. She is considered a liberal conservative politician.
An industrial engineer with a master's degree in finance, Machado began her political career as a founder of the vote-monitoring organization Súmate. She is the National Coordinator of the political party Vente Venezuela and ran in the 2012 opposition presidential primary, which she lost to Henrique Capriles. During the 2014 Venezuelan protests, she played a leading role in organizing demonstrations against Maduro's government.[1]
In 2023, Machado won the opposition primary to become the unity candidate for the 2024 presidential election.[2] The Venezuelan government subsequently barred her from running in the election.[3][4][5] She named Corina Yoris as a replacement candidate, who was later replaced by Edmundo González Urrutia. The opposition presented vote tallies, claiming that González Urritia won the election in a landslide, while the Maduro government claimed victory without presenting any evidence. Shortly after the 28 July election, Machado announced that she had gone into hiding, citing fears for her life and freedom under the authoritarian Maduro regime.[6]
Machado was born in Caracas, Venezuela, on 7 October 1967.[12] She is a descendant of the 3rd Marquis of Toro, Sebastián José Antonio Rodríguez del Toro y Ascanio (1739–1787), and is the eldest of the four daughters of the psychologist Corina Parisca (1940) and the steel businessman Henrique Machado Zuloaga (1930–2023), who was a nephew of Armando Zuloaga, who was killed in an uprising against Venezuelan dictator Juan Vicente Gómez. She is the great-great-granddaughter of Eduardo Blanco, great-great-niece of Martín Tovar y Tovar, and great-grandniece of Ricardo Zuloaga.[13][14][15]
In 1992, Machado—a mother of three children—started Fundación Atenea (Atenea Foundation), a foundation using private donations to care for orphaned and delinquent Caracas street children; she also served as chair of the Opportunitas Foundation.[17][18] After working in the auto industry in Valencia, she moved to Caracas in 1993.[14] Because of her role in Súmate, Machado left the foundation so that it would not be politicized.[17]
The founding of the volunteer civil organization Súmate resulted from a hurried encounter between Machado and Alejandro Plaz in a hotel lobby in 2001, where they shared their concern about the course that was being shaped for Venezuela. Machado said: "Something clicked. I had this unsettling feeling that I could not stay at home and watch the country get polarized and collapse... We had to keep the electoral process but change the course, to give Venezuelans the chance to count ourselves, to dissipate tensions before they built up. It was a choice of ballots over bullets."[14]
Súmate led a petition drive for the 2004 referendum to recall President Hugo Chávez.[19] After the referendum, members of Súmate, including Machado, were charged with treason and conspiracy, under Article 132 of the Penal Code,[20] for receiving financial support for their activities from the U.S. National Endowment for Democracy (NED).[17]
A U.S. Department of State spokesperson said the decision to prosecute her was "part of President Hugo Chávez's campaign... aimed at frightening members of civil society and preventing them from exercising their democratic rights".[21] The criminal charges triggered condemnation from Human Rights Watch and democracy groups,[22][23] the U.S. Embassy in Venezuela,[24] and a coalition of world leaders.[25] Machado acknowledged the support of Venezuelans for Chávez, saying: "We have to recognize the positive things that have been done", but says that the president is "increasingly intolerant."[15]
Machado and Plaz were invited to meet with National Assembly legislators in August 2006 for an investigation about Súmate's funding but were denied access to the hearing, claiming they received two letters requesting their presence.[26] She faced treason charges for signing the Carmona Decree during the 2002 coup attempt,[15][27] when she was falsely instructed to write her name on what she believed to be a sign-in sheet visiting the presidential palace.[15][27] The trial was suspended in February 2006 and has been postponed indefinitely, effectively dismissed.[28][29]
2011 presidential candidacy
In 2011, Machado launched her candidacy for the 2012 presidential election.[30] The Los Angeles Times said that her name was raised as a potential candidate,[31] and Michael Shifter stated that she was a future presidential contender "who can effectively communicate a vision for a post-Chávez Venezuela that can appeal to enough Chávez supporters".[32] According to the Financial Times, Machado was "dubbed the new face of the opposition ... Even President Hugo Chávez has spoken of confronting her in the 2012 presidential elections."[33]
On 13 January 2012, during the annual State of the Nation Speech delivered by Chávez to the National Assembly, Machado confronted him about shortages of basic goods, crime, and nationalizations of basic industries. She said: "How can you say that you protect private property when you have been expropriating small businesses; expropriating and not paying is stealing."[34] The winner of the 2012 primary to be the opposition candidate against Chávez in the October presidential election was Henrique Capriles Radonski; according to the Associated Press, Machado "conceded defeat before the results were announced, saying she also will actively back Capriles".[35]
In February 2010, Machado resigned from Súmate[36] and announced her candidacy for the National Assembly of Venezuela.[37] She represented Miranda for the Chacao, Baruta, El Hatillo, and the Parroquia Leoncio Martínez de Sucre municipalities.[37] She was a Justice First (Primero Justicia) party member of the Coalition for Democratic Unity (Mesa de la Unidad Democrática – MUD) in opposition to Chávez's party, the United Socialist Party of Venezuela (Partido Socialista Unido de Venezuela – PSUV).[38] In announcing her candidacy, she said Venezuelans were good, decent, and free people who do not want to live with violence or hate; she promised to defend the right for Venezuelans to think freely and live without fear.[39][40] In April 2010, Machado won the primary election.[41] She campaigned actively in "slums once viewed as solid pro-Chávez territory", attempting to "capitalize on domestic problems, including widespread violent crime, power outages in some regions, a severe housing shortage and 30-percent inflation".[42]
Machado complained that MUD candidates faced "what she called a government-orchestrated propaganda machine that churns out spots ridiculing Chávez's critics, runs talk shows dominated by ruling party hopefuls and picks up all of the president's speeches",[42] and that she had to campaign with less funds as she "struggled to convince supporters and business leaders to contribute to her campaign because they fear reprisals by the government and Chávez-friendly prosecutors".[42] According to The Economist, Venezuela's constitution "prohibits government officials, including the president, from using their position to favour a political tendency. But the electoral authority, whose board comprises four chavistas and a lone oppositionist, says they can do it anyway."[43]
Chávez was accused of breaking campaign laws by using state-run television to "berate rivals and praise friends" during the election campaign; he denied breaking the law, and suggested that the only director of the National Election Council's five directors who is not pro-Chávez and who raised the issue could be prosecuted for making the charges.[44] According to a reporter for the Associated Press, Venezuela's electoral council "has for years ignored laws that bar the president and other elected officials from actively campaigning for candidates. Chavez ... has threatened legal action against Vicente Diaz, the lone member of the electoral council who has criticized his heavy use of state media ahead of the vote."[42] Machado said: "While we are visiting voters, going from house to house, the ruling party's campaign is imposed through televised speeches."[44] When the state-run television channel interviewed Machado, they ran images of her Oval Office meeting in 2005 with George W. Bush, described by an Associated Press reporter as "Chavez's longtime nemesis".[42] She said: "We have a campaign led by the PSUV with a lot of resources that we know are public resources – even when the constitution prohibits it.[42] The PSUV benefitted from frequent cadenas (Chávez speeches that every Venezuelan TV channel are mandated to run), while "the main government channel air[ed] a steady stream of rallies and ads featuring Chavez's red-clad candidates".[42] When Machado was interviewed by the state-run channel, the interview was "abruptly cut off" and "shifted to a campaign rally where Chávez spoke to a theater filled with supporters".[42]
Election
Machado won the election to the National Assembly on 25 September 2010, as the highest vote-getter in the nation;[33] she and fellow Justice First Miranda candidate Enrique Mendoza were the "two highest vote-getters nationwide".[31] Machado said the president "made a big mistake by turning the election into a plebiscite on himself... This is a clear signal that Venezuelans do not want an authoritarian government, a militarized government, a centralized government and a government that wants to turn Venezuela into Cuba... A new phase begins today, and we've taken a big step toward the day when democratic values, freedom, justice and good governance prevail."[32] She added: "We now have the legitimacy of the citizen vote. We are the representatives of the people."[45] She concluded: "It is very clear. Venezuela said no to Cuban-like communism."[46]
Removal
On 21 March 2014, Machado appeared as an alternate envoy at the request of Panama at the Organization of American States (OAS), amid the protests in Venezuela, to speak about the situation in Venezuela.[47] According to The Wall Street Journal, following her appearance at the OAS, "pro-Maduro parliamentarians, who dominate the National Assembly", claimed her appearance at the OAS was prohibited by Venezuela's constitution, and removed her from the National Assembly.[48] Machado responded by accusing Diosdado Cabello (president of the National Assembly) of having a "dictatorship in the National Assembly",[49] and said that her removal from the National Assembly was illegal.[50]
Machado was among the leaders of the opposition demonstrations against Nicolás Maduro in the 2014 protests. The National Assembly requested a criminal investigation of Machado on 18 March 2014 for crimes including treason for her involvement in the anti-government protests.[51][52] Machado responded to the accusations saying: "In a dictatorship, the weaker the regime is, the greater the repression."[53] After her removal on 21 March 2014, Machado, along with supporters, began a march on 1 April 2014 toward downtown Caracas protesting against Machado's expulsion, where Machado attempted to return to her seat in the National Assembly. The demonstrators were prevented from leaving by the National Guard, which dispersed them with tear gas.[54]
In May 2014, government official Jorge Rodríguez presented allegations of a plot by opposition politicians and officials, including Machado, to overthrow Maduro's government. The evidence provided by the Venezuelan government were alleged emails through Google that were addressed to others from both Machado and Pedro Mario Burelli[es].[55] Burelli responded that the emails were falsified by the Bolivarian Intelligence Service (SEBIN), showing what he said were the original emails.[56][57] In June 2014, Attorney General Luisa Ortega Díaz subpoenaed Machado along with Burelli, Diego Arria, and Ricardo Koesling.[58] By 11 June 2014, arrest warrants were issued.[59] Burelli hired Kivu, a U.S.-based cybersecurity company, to analyze the alleged emails.[60] Kivu concluded that there was "no evidence of the existence of any emails between Pedro Burelli's Google email accounts and the alleged recipients", that the alleged emails presented by the Venezuelan government had "many indications of user manipulation" and that "Venezuelan officials used forged emails to accuse government adversaries of plotting to kill President Nicolas Maduro".[61][62][63]
In November 2014, government officials announced that Machado was to be formally charged on 3 December 2014.[48][64] Machado and others stated that the accusations were false and were created by the government to deflect attention from the country's economic problems and polls showing Maduro's approval rating at a record low of 30%.[48]
Between 2014 and 2021, Machado worked as a broadcaster on the radio station Radio Caracas Radio, where she hosted a weekly hour-long talk show and political analysis program called Contigo: Con María Corina Machado.[65][66][67]
Later political career
On 1 February 2019, Machado announced she would run for president if Juan Guaidó were to call elections, owing to the 2019 Venezuelan presidential crisis.[68][69] For the next Venezuelan presidential election, Machado was recognized as a front-running opposition candidate.[70] In an interview discussing the election, Machado insisted that she was not interested in the opposition primary and said that "my goal is to get Maduro out and be able to defeat the regime using all the force".[71] She argued: "There are only two options here... We win with a huge majority or Maduro steals the election."[72] According to head of the Delphos pollster Félix Seijas, "[t]he opposition as it existed is no longer, and that opens the door for her to capture support beyond her radical base", while explaining her expanded support.[73] On 30 June 2023, she was disqualified from holding office for 15 years by the government due to her leadership in anti-government protests.[74]
2023 presidential primary elections
On 14 August 2022, Machado confirmed her participation in the 2023 Unitary Platform presidential primaries.[75] During the primaries, Machado positioned herself against the technical assistance of the National Electoral Council (CNE) in the election, alleging that CNE is part of a "criminal system". In the same way, she defended the return to manual voting. On 15 March 2023, she officially began her campaign tour of the country, in the state of Mérida.[76] During her pre-campaign, Machado maintained criticism towards the traditional opposition leadership, mainly the Democratic Action, Justice First, A New Era, and Popular Will parties.[77] She made it clear that she was willing to negotiate an exit from Chavismo to achieve a transition.[78]
On 30 June 2023, she was disqualified for fifteen years by the comptroller general of Venezuela, after a request from the politician José Brito. The comptroller linked her to alleged crimes by Juan Guaidó and accused her of supporting sanctions during the Venezuelan crisis.[4][79][80] Analysts determined that the accusation of having participated in the interim was incoherent, taking into account that she was not a member of the 2015 opposition National Assembly (being prevented by a disqualification from the Comptroller's Office), in addition to never having been appointed in any position in Guaidó's interim government.[81] Organizations including the United Nations, the Organization of American States, and the European Union, and numerous countries rejected Machado's disqualification.[82][83] The European Parliament called the ban "arbitrary and politically fabricated", and the Associated Press stated that banning opposition politicians from elections was a frequent tactic used by the government.[29]
On 26 October 2023, after winning the primary elections, the National Primary Commission proclaimed Machado as the unitary presidential candidate of the opposition.[2]
Machado's 15-year disqualification was confirmed by the Supreme Court of Justice in January 2024. The court said the disqualification was "for being involved... in the corruption plot orchestrated by the usurper Juan Guaido", which had led to a "criminal blockade of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, as well as the shameless dispossession of the companies and wealth of the Venezuelan people abroad, with the complicity of corrupt governments".[5]
Although Machado was not the presidential candidate, she remained the leader of the opposition to Chavismo during the electoral process.[86][87] The majority support that candidate Edmundo González received in various polls was due to the boost given to him by Machado's support.[88][89][90]
Regarding the role that Machado would play in a González Urrutia government, The Telegraph commented: "Should the opposition win, Ms Machado is widely expected to be the de facto leader of a government formally led by Mr González."[91] The newspaper compared the massive popular movement around Machado with the rise of Hugo Chávez to the presidency in 1998, in terms of the "fervor" it generated in citizens, in a context of both political crisis and systemic decadence.[91]
On 4 July, González and Machado officially began the electoral campaign along with other opposition leaders.[92] The event, which was planned to be a caravan from Chacaíto to El Marqués, became a march with the attendance of dozens of thousands of people.[93][94]
The New York Times described Machado as "an energetic former legislator whose central message is the promise of bringing Venezuelans home by restoring democracy and getting the economy going again".[95]
Following the Venezuelan government's announcements of falsified election results, a national and international political crisis developed.[96] On 1 August, Machado published a letter in The Wall Street Journal, stating that she had gone in to hiding "fearing for my life, my freedom, and that of my fellow countrymen from the dictatorship of Nicolás Maduro"; in the letter, she laid out the evidence she said she had from the vote tallies supporting PUD's win, and stated that Maduro had expelled witnesses from the polls, while the witnesses "protected the voter receipts with their lives throughout the night" of the elections.[97]
On 9 January 2025, Maria Machado suffered an attempted arrest by government forces. The arrest occurred after a rally in Chacao, Caracas, where Machado had reappeared publicly after three months in hiding. According to reports, government troops "violently intercepted" her vehicle and shot at the motorcycles carrying her.[98][99][100][101][102][103]
Domestically, Machado has called for the banning of reelection to political office, is in favor of same-sex marriage, supports the legalization of medical cannabis, and has called for a national debate on the legality of abortion in cases involving risk to the mother's life or instances of rape.[113] In a 2024 interview, Machado talked of making education available for all Venezuelans and of reforming the country's judiciary.[114] On several occasions, Machado has identified the United Kingdom's Margaret Thatcher as the politician she most admires.[115][116]
Foreign policy
Regarding the Israel–Palestine conflict, Machado expressed her solidarity with Israel following the attacks of 7 October 2023.[117] She thanked Israel for its support of Edmundo González as president-elect,[118] and previously of Juan Guaidó as acting president.[119] Machado planned to reestablish diplomatic relations with Israel, which were cut in 2009 due to the 2008–2009 Gaza war.[119]
In February 2025, Machado addressed a Patriots.eu rally in Madrid.[120][121] Machado is a strong supporter of United States President Donald Trump, whom she described in 2025 as a "visionary" in relation to his opposition to the Maduro regime in Venezuela.[122][123] After he deployed the Navy to the Caribbean in 2025, Machado praised the Trump administration.[124] She has expressed support for the use of force to depose the Maduro regime; one of her advisors told the New York Times that she has coordinated with the Trump administration and that she has a plan for the first hundred hours after his deposition.[125]
Target of violence
Machado has been described as a Lady of Steel[106] or Iron Lady.[126] According to The New York Times, supporters see her as "courageous for staying in Venezuela when many other politicians have fled".[127]
While attending the bicentennial celebration of Venezuela's Declaration of Independence on 5 July 2011, following controversial comments she had made earlier about Venezuela's dependency on Cuba and not being independent, Machado was attacked by an angry group of government supporters.[128][129][130] The group of about 50 threw stones and bottles at her;[128][129] authorities defended her, and one officer was injured, as Machado was evacuated from the area by a police motorbike.[128][129] Machado later thanked the authorities for defending her and apologized for any of their injuries.[129]
During Machado's presidential race in 2011, she and her companions were attacked on 16 October by a small group of the Motorized Front of the PSUV while in Turmero,[131][132] injuring Machado and two others.[133] The group attacked them with kicks, punches and objects while saying "this is chavista territory, no political opposition enters here".[131][132]
On 30 April 2013, cameras covering the National Assembly were turned to the ceiling and opposition members stated they were attacked and assaulted[es] in an "ambush by supporters of President Nicolás Maduro's government". Machado was injured, along with other legislators in the National Assembly, saying she was attacked from behind, hit in the face and kicked while on the floor which left her with a broken nose. Machado said the brawl "was a premeditated, cowardly, vile, aggression". Maduro responded to the situation by saying: "What happened today in the National Assembly, we do not agree with violence. They tell us and we knew that the opposition was coming to provoke violence." No disciplinary actions was taken against any of the attackers after the incident.[134][135][136]
At a rally on 16 November 2013 in support of the opposition party during municipal elections, Machado and other politicians were attacked by government supporters,[137][138] with stones and fireworks.[138]
After leading protests in Bolívar on 14 March 2014, Machado, Bishop of Ciudad Guayana Mariano Parra[es], and other citizens in the area were attacked at the Puerto Ordaz airport.[139][140][141] The National Guard intervened to disperse the attack.[140]
While heading to a meeting in Caricuao on 30 July 2014, members of colectivos attacked Machado.[142][143] The vehicle Machado was traveling in was heavily damaged, with the body and windows of the vehicle being struck with gun handles, sticks and stones.[142] Machado escaped and was then moved to the assembly place while colectivos followed breaking down the door where they then left the scene after confrontations with residents protecting Machado.[142]
In May 2005, U.S. president George W. Bush welcomed Machado to the Oval Office.[144] After meeting with Machado and discussing Súmate's "efforts to safeguard the integrity and transparency of Venezuela's electoral process", a White House spokesperson said, "[t]he President expressed his concerns about efforts to harass and intimidate Súmate and its leadership".[145] Machado was hailed by National Review in 2006 as "the best of womankind and the difficult times many women face around the globe" on a list of Women the World Should Know for International Women's Day.[146]
In 2009, Machado was chosen out of 900 applicants as one of 15 accepted to the Yale World Fellows Program. The Yale University program "aim[s] to build a global network of emerging leaders and to broaden international understanding worldwide". The Yale World Fellows Program press release said: "Machado devotes herself to defending democratic institutions and civil liberties through SUMATE, the nation's leading watchdog for electoral transparency."[147] Machado later graduated from the program.[13]
Leopoldo López, Antonio Ledezma and Machado were awarded the Cádiz Cortes Ibero-American Freedom Prize in 2015 for their "unwavering defense of freedom in their community and demands for the minimum exercise of human rights therein, which has led to their public rebuke by the government, including arbitrary imprisonment and the curtailing of their basic civil rights".[148]
The Inspira América Foundation, headed by Marcell Felipe, joined with the rectors of four U.S. universities on 16 August 2024 to promote the nomination of Machado for the Nobel Peace Prize, highlighting her "tireless fight for peace in Venezuela and the world" as "a fair recognition of a person who has dedicated almost her entire life to the fight for peace and the liberation" of Venezuela.[152][153]
On 10 October, Machado was awarded the 2025 Nobel Peace Prize "for her tireless work promoting democratic rights for the people of Venezuela and for her struggle to achieve a just and peaceful transition from dictatorship to democracy".[7] On X, Machado dedicated the prize to the "suffering people of Venezuela" and "President Trump for his decisive support of our cause".[154]
Personal life
Machado is divorced and has three children;[13] her children live abroad due to death threats at home.[155] Machado is Catholic.[156]
↑ "Chavez Calls Watchdog Group a Top Enemy". CBS News. 3 December 2005. Previously at this link[dead link], also available at LexisNexis and archive.wn.com. Accessed 24 February 2010.
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